The events after Perfect Dark
by Peachrocks
Summary: You've read the events before Perfect dark but what happens after the Skedar race was seemingly annihilated. 3 chapters this time, only 1 progresses the story, the other is just other info... and something I needed to do for a long time
1. The return

Hey… I'm writing this fic until I get some cool ideas for Perfect Dark Kids. I will update both stories maybe, it depends on how ideas come. As the title implies this is after Perfect Dark. Joanna has returned from the Skedar planet just over a month ago. Maian/Human talks had well and truly taken place, but trouble looms yet again… Well it has to otherwise there would be no story…   
  
One typical day at the Institute, Joanna and Jonathan were talking with Carrington about negotiations.  
  
"How's it going sir?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Quite well…" Carrington replied  
  
"Is there anything else, there seems to be a but" Joanna said  
  
"Well, it's just taking a little longer then I'd like. I mean I know breaking to the world that aliens exist isn't going to be easy. Just as Elvis and Bea Tles had feared there may be arguments, wars even against us or the Maians themselves when they arrive. The President personally wants to keep it a secret, he's amazed that we had our agent up there for nearly 8 years" Carrington said  
  
"How is Sean anyway?" Jonathan asked  
  
"So that's where Sean ended up?" Joanna said  
  
"Yes, just under 8 years ago Sean agreed to live on the main Maian planet for two reasons, one to protect himself and Earth from the Skedar and two to research the planet in a way. He's doing alright. Of course he is glad that the Skedar threat is removed, however something doesn't seem right about him" Carrington said  
  
"How do you mean?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Well, he has hardly aged, if at all. He looks just like when he was 19, not that I am concerned by this, but it could explain why Maians live for such a long time if the stuff they drink, eat, breath is in their system from birth" Carrington said  
  
"That's amazing. No wonder Elvis is so old, well for us anyway" Joanna said  
  
"It's only a guess but it's a fairly strong one. I'm about to speak to him again, any of you got anything to say?" Carrington asked  
  
"Sure" Jonathan replied  
  
Carrington turned his chair and faced his computer and started typing into it and clicking away with the mouse.   
  
"Hi Sir" Sean's picture came up. Carrington was right, Jonathan had a picture taken with him before he left, he had hardly changed at all.   
  
"Sean, how are you doing?" Carrington asked  
  
"Great. According to Elvis, Protectors are forty percent more efficient. Are negotiations going well?" Sean asked  
  
"Well they are going okay, pretty slow process" Carrington said  
  
"Hey shouldn't you be there?" Sean asked  
  
"No, they aren't chatting today" Carrington replied.  
  
A Maian appeared on Sean's side, it begun talking in Maian. Sean replied in fluent Maian and it nodded its head in agreement.  
  
"Well that's new" Jonathan said  
  
"Yeah, it took a while but I can speak Maian. Anyway my Maian friend just told me to tell you that I can return home. I had be trying to work it out for the past month since the Skedar King had been killed but the Maians insisted they still needed my skills. However I have finally got what I wanted so I'll be coming home anytime soon. That is if I'm still welcome" Sean said  
  
"Of course you are. We had been wondering why you hadn't returned sooner. Although are all the Skedar eliminated? What information have you got" Carrington asked  
  
"The Maians have located small amounts of Skedar and we were effective for a while thanks to the Skedar diplomats turned spies but they got found out and had to run for their lives" Sean said  
  
"Skedar diplomats?" Joanna asked  
  
"Yes, not all Skedar are savage beasts, there were some who protested the King's violent actions but they were all killed. However these certain Skedar became diplomats in a way and helped negotiate the ceasefire, and since the King's death they have been giving us some information. Before the King's death they were controlled by fear of their own lives" Carrington explained   
  
"In fact they have just arrived. So they are alive and well" Sean said  
  
"It's great you are coming back" Jonathan said  
  
"It's been a long time, I'm glad too… This planet may be advanced but I still can't get used to the lack of weather change and climate here. It's always around 25 degrees Celsius and sunny in the middle of the day, around 20 degrees and slightly foggy in the early morning but it clears around what would be 8am, and in the evening it goes to around 22 and then it all repeats again, every day. I perfectly understand why Elvis was so fascinated by our weather. The food is good though, any meal takes 2 seconds to prepare and eat. I'll be glad to be back though, anyway my transport awaits see you in 9 hours." Sean said and he faded from on the screen.  
  
Just as Sean had finished talking there was knocking on the door.  
  
"Come" Carrington said as Foster walked in  
  
"Oh, I didn't know you were having a meeting" Foster said  
  
"No we weren't having meeting, if I was I wouldn't have told you to come in" Carrington replied  
  
"I suppose, err anyway, the Maian grenade is available in the firing range" Foster said  
  
A/N: Some trivia, the Maian grenade was going to be a weapon in Perfect Dark but it was removed. I made a guess of what it would be like.  
  
"It's definitely an interesting weapon" Jonathan said  
  
"What's it do?" Joanna asked  
  
"Identical to a normal grenade in most respects but the explosion range is less, but rather than blowing it up, it absorbs anything in range" Foster explained "Of course this doesn't include walls and boxes and things" Foster chuckled  
  
"How'd you make a test for something that absorbs rather than blows up?" Joanna asked  
  
"Not easy, but that's why I told you it was finished" Foster said  
  
"Nice work Foster" Carrington said  
  
12am, 9 hours later.   
  
The Maian ship had started to land while invisible in the Institute hangar through the helipad doors. It became visible as it landed. A walkway appeared in front of the ship, Sean stepped out. It seemed only Jonathan was around, it was late after all. Elvis gave a quick wave and headed out.   
  
"Hey Jonathan" Sean said  
  
"Hey, how are you" Jonathan said as both patted each other on the back  
  
"Is everybody gone?" Sean said slightly surprised that not even Carrington was around.  
  
"Pretty much" Jonathan gave a bit of a sigh  
  
"Ah well, I'll see Carrington tomorrow" Sean said, one thing Jonathan did notice that was different, Sean seemed a lot more physically toned. By his face and his appearance he looked no different to how he was 8 years ago.  
  
"Where's Elvis going anyway, he seemed a little eager to leave didn't he?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Oh, Elvis has to be at a meeting with the President tomorrow so he has to meet up with his Maian friends. How are things here?" Sean asked  
  
"Well I'm still doing UC missions, but come we'll chat in the cafeteria" Jonathan said   
  
"How long has that been here?" Sean asked  
  
"About a month" Jonathan replied  
  
"Well that's not too old, trying to get it like the old Institute again?" Sean asked as they walked to the cafeteria, the lights in the Institute were a bit dimmer probably because nobody was around, Sean thought to himself.   
  
"Yes, it's coming along well. With the Skedar threat on the most part removed we have been building" Jonathan said as they walked into the cafeteria.  
  
Just as they walked in, Sean heard a shout of…  
  
"Surprise!!!"   
  
Sean was definitely surprised as Carrington, Joanna, Velvet, were present. The shout made it seem it was a lot more… but in truth it was only Carrington, Joanna and Velvet.   
  
"Well I am welcome then" Sean gave a smile "You had me worried sir" Sean said  
  
"Yes, it was a bit cruel. I was going to be the person who greeted you but believe it or not, I'm not very good at surprises… Jonathan seemed to do great though" Carrington said   
  
"Hey where did everybody go?" Velvet said  
  
"What?" Carrington looked around  
  
"What? What?" Sean replied not understanding what Velvet said, nor why Carrington was looking around.   
  
"Err, let's say a few other people were going to be here, I swear if I get my hands on Wendy" Carrington said  
  
"Who's Wendy? Not that it matters, I wasn't really expecting anybody" Sean said  
  
"Well I guess it's for the best, none of them really knew you anyway. I suppose it was unfair for me to ask them to come to this at midnight and then come back the next day at 7.30" Carrington said  
  
"Just a bit, I wasn't expecting anything as I said" Sean replied. In a way he was relieved that he didn't have to meet all these new people.   
  
"Yeah, they've all escaped through the front door, while we couldn't see them. Nice idea leaving the cafeteria door open" Joanna said as she and Velvet looked out the Institute.   
  
"Oh, I can't be brilliant all the time" Carrington moaned "I didn't think Wendy would give everybody a cloaking device to get out, she's smart I'll give her that"   
  
"Wendy is the device lab tech I take it?" Sean asked  
  
"Oh of course, yes" Carrington replied  
  
"I have to ask you Sean, how come you look like you've barely aged, but you look a lot more well… physically able then I remember, not that you weren't strong before" Jonathan asked  
  
"Firstly, the Maian food or drink as you can call it; it somehow slows the process of aging, causing you to age at one tenth the usual rate. Whether that's a good thing for me or not at this stage of my life, I'm not sure. Secondly, training Maian protectors is as tough on me as it is on them, since I have to do the tasks they do as well. If anybody thought training for the Institute was hard, that was nothing, protectors go through so many tests, physical, mental, shooting ability the usual, but it is more frequent, much harder and the training lasts longer. On a Maian the effects are not visible by looks due to their body structure but on me, it is more obvious. However regardless of the appearance the effects are definitely there" Sean explained, Carrington was fascinated.   
  
"But why does it seem that Maians are equal to humans in combat if their training is so much more intense" Carrington asked  
  
"With respect sir, I think the others will fall asleep out of boredom" Sean said  
  
"Ha. If you want to go you can, I'll bombard you with my questions tomorrow" Carrington chuckled  
  
"I'll answer the last question, I shouldn't be so rude, I guess I am a little tired as well as hungry. Anyway the Maian, Human combat thing is rather strange because the fact is a Maian is in fact by physical abilities, level of fitness, and all that is only about as half the level of a standard human, however their potential for all of these things is equal to a human. Through rigorous training they over come these weaknesses. This is why Maians can't summon men in a quick amount of time and why they train so many protectors, and even more of what our equal is of the army, simply because the Maians can't simply pick some of their race off the street and train them in a short amount of time even for basic combat." Sean continued his lecture, Carrington was still highly interested.  
  
"It would be really great if I can talk a little more about this, since it's very interesting" Carrington said  
  
"Yeah so interesting Joanna has fallen asleep on the microwave" Sean said, Jonathan let out a laugh  
  
"What? What? I'm awake" Joanna raised her head from the microwave  
  
"Don't mind her, she's been very busy lately even after the Skedar mission. No wonder she's exhausted" Carrington said   
  
"Oh is there something going on?" Sean asked  
  
"Well yes, but don't let it concern you. But are you working as an agent now?" Carrington asked  
  
"Well I guess, I mean yes, but the Maians are still paying me, rather well in fact. Even though I'm not working the Maians are giving me a good amount of money every 2 Earth weeks for at least 5 Earth years" Sean explained  
  
"Well that's great" Jonathan said as Sean took a donut  
  
"It's been so long, sorry guys" Sean took a bite of the donut "Oh yeah, I can't believe I've been missing out on this, I can actually enjoy it" Sean said as he was chewing.   
  
"Anyway, you can tell us, or me all your stories tomorrow" Carrington said "I think all of us want to go home" Carrington continued  
  
"Agreed" Velvet said. She too was exhausted.   
  
"Very well, see you all tomorrow" Carrington said  
  
Joanna, Velvet and Carrington walked off.   
  
"Hey you got somewhere to stay?" Jonathan asked, since where Sean had lived 8 years ago was sold when he moved to the Maian planet by his own wish.   
  
"Well Yes and no" Sean replied  
  
"What does that mean" Jonathan asked puzzled  
  
"It means no, but I don't mind it. I lived like this always on the Maian planet" Sean said  
  
"You mean you lived at various what would be hotels and stuff or at the training areas where you worked?" Jonathan asked still not getting what Sean was saying.  
  
"No, basically I camped out, every night. One I couldn't stand the inner city, Maians are used to it, I tried to sleep but I couldn't, far too disruptive, and the same went for every city, it's very different there. Secondly I needed some kind of release away from work, since I only talked to Carrington once a month and he was my only human contact, and as such I did get a little homesick, but I never showed it to Carrington, unfortunately Elvis wasn't fooled. He showed me what he called the place that was most like Earth, although he denies it and says it was always there I think he created it with a group of Maians somehow. Anyway it wasn't home but it had a good amount of grass, with a bit of water, not that I couldn't shower in the city of course, and some actual seasons and climate change it was really a great place to be, no Maian likes it there so I wouldn't get disturbed, so I camped out in these areas every night, now I'm used to it" Sean said  
  
"Wow you have changed a lot over the years" Jonathan replied  
  
"All for the good I reckon" Sean said  
  
"Still where are you going to go?" Jonathan asked  
  
"I've found a place, I did a quick map check before I got here" Sean said  
  
"Alright, I still can't believe you slept without a roof over your head for the best part of 8 years" Jonathan smiled as they walked over to the new car park. "How are you getting there?" Jonathan asked  
  
"I'll probably make do for tonight somewhere else until I get a car or something" Sean said  
  
"That side of you hasn't changed at all get in the car before I make you" Jonathan said being serious but keeping his smile  
  
Sean was tempted to ask Jonathan to try it but didn't want to be too arrogant even in joking terms so didn't argue as he got in the car and showed Jonathan the map.  
  
"That's a nice place, I think…" Jonathan said not being really the camping type, he didn't mind it but it wasn't something he'd do very often.  
  
After about 30 minutes of driving they arrived at a rather large and hilly field with a few trees.  
  
"You sure you can stay here?" Jonathan said as Sean got his backpack out of the car.   
  
"Positive, anyway thanks" Sean closed the back of the car up  
  
"Come let me help you set up" Jonathan said  
  
"Do you want to tuck me in and read me a bed time story too?" Sean asked   
  
"If you'd like" Jonathan replied with a smile  
  
"You haven't changed either I guess, Joanna tells me you've got worse" Sean said as he walked in the darkened park.   
  
"Joanna, she's funny… at times like she can be the most annoying person, but she's doesn't intend to be it took me quite some time to pick up on that" Jonathan sighed deeply  
  
"Is it true she got perfect in the training?" Sean asked  
  
"Yup you bet she didn't beat the King on fluke you know. Although Jo is quite nice, when you know her" Jonathan said  
  
"Alright this will do" Sean stopped suddenly and dropped his pack and opened it taking out a sleeping bag. Jonathan shook his head.  
  
"What?" Sean asked looking up at Jonathan  
  
"Huh? How'd you see me, it's nearly pitch black" Jonathan said out of surprise  
  
"I don't know, but I could tell you were doing that. It's not that unbelievable, it wasn't like I never went outside before" Sean said  
  
"Yeah but it's 2023, very few people do that kind of stuff now. Also you lived a fairly quiet life, you were either at Carrington's Villa, school or the Institute, that was your life" Jonathan said  
  
That made Sean think… had he really missed out on so much when he was younger. He wasn't really bored, but he didn't really socialize with the other kids, he didn't really fit in since there was so much of his life he wasn't allowed to discuss.   
  
"I'm sorry. You're more than old enough I should leave you to your own decisions" Jonathan said after Sean's silence  
  
"No it's alright. You just made me think about something" Sean replied  
  
"I might go then" Jonathan said  
  
"Thanks again for your help" Sean said  
  
"No problem, see you tomorrow" Jonathan walked off.  
  
Sean took out his flash light from his bag, it could stand up so the light could go in all directions like a fire, and also like a fire it would go out after a set time period. Sean knew the place he was in used to be a popular park about 10 years ago, but it lost popularity to better advertised and places with better functions, nobody even ran it anymore. He would explore tomorrow and find out if he could have a more traditional fire rather than a battery run substitute, but it would do for tonight.   
  
He took off his jacket and put it inside his bag and sat up for a moment thinking about what Jonathan had said. It wasn't Jonathan's intention and Sean knew this, but it made him think about how he missed out a good part of his life as a teenager and to a lesser extend as a kid. Being 26 you just couldn't get that back, there was nothing he could do about it. However he was always grateful that his life could have been far worse if Carrington had just ignored him all those years ago when his mother was killed by a savage Skedar attack which was assisted by his father which was unknown to him at the time who Sean thought had also died. Life had turned out quite good, he thought. He was rich, he had a good group of friends and he could do almost whatever he wanted. On those thoughts he lay down and went to sleep… 


	2. Betrayal and revival?

A/N: Don't worry about the start, you are reading the right fic here….   
  
A young boy of 8 years of age awakened in his Mum's rented 1 room house. If you could it a house, it was a real dump, multiple holes in the roof and the walls and ants, termites and cockroaches were everywhere, the previous tenants made a mess of it after an argument with the landlord. Rubbing his eyes he stood up and immediately ran to his Mum's room, she was very sick and neither was sure how much time she had left, they couldn't afford treatment, they didn't even know what was wrong with her, they were barely paying the rent and eating.   
  
"Hi Junior" His mother said she was lying on a very old lounge chair. Junior was always called this name for as long as he could remember but he knew it wasn't his real name his mother told him so, but she never told him his actual name.   
  
"Hey" Junior replied, he tried not to be too upset around his Mum, getting as much out of everyday as he could.   
  
"Listen, you know there isn't much time left" His mother told him in a quiet voice  
  
Junior didn't reply  
  
"I have one last chance for survival" His mother said, Junior's eyes lighted up  
  
"Your father can help us, it is risky but I see no other option. I know I told you that your father has no interest in us, but if he knew I was dying there may be a chance. This is a lot to put on you, but I am far too weak to walk there myself, will you do this?" His mother said still weak  
  
"Anything, anything to save you" Junior replied, his mother gave a weak smile.   
  
His Mum gave him a map of the city and circled the large building where his father supposedly lived. He had never met his father, he had no idea who he was, what he did, what he looked like. He had a cold shower and the shower itself was full of dirt but it didn't matter to him, he was more than used to it, he got changed into a T-shirt and tracksuit pants that were both were a bit worn out and were a size too small.   
  
"Good luck" His mother smiled using a bit of energy  
  
"Thanks" Junior replied   
  
He walked out into the city that was full of gangs, all who talked amongst themselves. A few police sirens went off but Junior knew that the police had almost given up trying to restore this place from all the drug dealing, weapon exchanging and many other numerous criminal activities that took place. He knew he was leaving his city when the buildings turned from dull brown and black to more commercial surroundings. The amount of air traffic was a lot greater, but despite this the air smelled a lot cleaner, it didn't smell of all kinds of smoke and rubbish amongst other things Junior didn't want to think about. Trying not to get distracted he moved on looking at the map, soon enough he had found the building. Two guards were standing in front of the entrance. Thoughts crossed his mind, what should he do? How was he going to get past? Who would he ask for to get in? Even then would they let him in?  
  
Junior fiddled with the map in trying to think, but then a name appeared on the other side. Casion? Was this his father, it was tough to read the writing but it was his only shot. He approached the door.  
  
"I am looking for a Mr. Casion, I am his son" Junior said to the guards, in his mind he knew this would never work but surprisingly one drew their radio.   
  
Through the radio the guard said "Err, sir your son is here in a puzzled voice" On the other end there was silence…  
  
"You can't be serious" The voice on the other end replied  
  
"Yes sir, well its what he says" The guard replied  
  
"Let him in, bring him to me" The voice replied  
  
Junior couldn't believe his luck, whoever this guy was, he was letting in a complete stranger. The guard let Junior in and took him to another guard who took him across a large area, with towers. There were guards everywhere. He went inside one of the many entrances as the guard swiped a card through the door, an elevator came and went up one level, yet again there were many guards, it was very much like a military base of some sort. Why have something like this in the middle of the city? Junior thought. After the guard took him to a further lift after getting another guard to swipe his card for him he went to the very top of the building and Junior walked into the office. A man in a red suit sat behind a desk.  
  
"So you are the practical joker huh? I could do with some laughs so let's get this over with" The man said  
  
"Are you Mr. Caison?" Junior asked ignoring this man, he was too desperate to argue, he just wanted to find out who his father was so he could ask him to help his mother.  
  
The man just stared  
  
"No my name is Easton, Trent Easton" Trent replied after a slight silence  
  
Junior stared at the paper and read the name again, now it made sense it was Easton, his mother couldn't write very well because of her condition.   
  
"I am sorry, I couldn't read this name very well" Junior said  
  
"So you claim to be my son? Yeah right…" Trent said with a bit of a laugh  
  
"But I am, my mother is dying, we need your help" Junior replied desperation in his voice  
  
"I never had a son, I never had a wife, and I never did anything like that. Now your time is up, get lost" Trent clicked his fingers and two guards came to Junior's side to take him, but he ran to Trent tears in his eyes.  
  
"Please I beg of you, help us, I know you are my father, my mother doesn't care whatever happened, we just need your help" Junior said trying to get to Trent and beg but the guards grabbed him.  
  
"Take him outside and make sure he doesn't come back" Trent said as the guards did what he told him. Junior tried to fight but the guards were far stronger then he was as they took him back to the lift.  
  
Trent meanwhile stood up and stared outside the window overlooking the surroundings. Unlike most of the base his office was quite a luxurious place, it had a view of the city surroundings, on the outside nobody would ever guess Trent had a base hiding inside.   
  
"Impossible, it couldn't be" Trent thought out loud "What if? Maybe?" Trent said to himself  
  
Even if this kid was his son, he couldn't get involved he had the Carrington Institute, the US Government and the Skedar all after his head, he couldn't take the chance. He couldn't afford just popping out from his hiding location all because of some stupid kid, and even if all those forces weren't after him he couldn't go helping somebody who he had left behind years ago, and this all existed on the theory that what this person said, who claimed to be his son was telling him was true.   
  
Junior was taken to the front of Trent's office still in tears and pushed out the front door, he knew that man was his father but knew he was never going to get any help from him now. He was so disappointed he let his mother down, he walked through the streets again and back to where he lived. His mother looked a lot worse then before, Junior knew her time would come very soon.  
  
"I'm sorry" Junior said tears still flowing, his mother looked up to Junior.  
  
"Do… not… worry… I expected… this" His mother was really struggling on every word  
  
Junior said nothing.  
  
"You found out who your father was? Did you see him?" His mother tried to get strength  
  
Junior only nodded  
  
"I call you Junior for a reason. I know you have been wondering this for a long time, your real name is…. Trent. Trent named you this before I had you, then we had an argument, I thought I had done something wrong and when you were born I named you after him as a way of reminding me of the man I once loved. I later learned it was him who betrayed me, I can't explain the details to you, but ever since I called you Junior purely to erase Trent from my mind" His mother told him   
  
"Does that mean my last name is Easton?" Junior asked  
  
"Yes. Trent and I married after I was pregnant, but after our argument we got split up and later divorced without even meeting. I hated him so deeply, but like I told you I can't explain it, it is too difficult to understand and it will take me too long to explain it to you" His mother was closing her eyes, and she struggled to keep them open.   
  
Junior still remained silent it was a lot to take in. He could only say four words.  
  
"I love you Mum" Junior said, it was the only thing that could come out without wanting to know why, or ask a question he knew his Mum couldn't answer. His mother smiled weakly, before slowly falling, closing her eyes and putting her head back. Junior knew she was dead, she wasn't breathing at all.   
  
He then put his hands in eyes and cried loudly. After about 5 minutes he knew it would be no good just to sit here, nobody would care about him anymore, only one thing mattered. He didn't know what that man had done to her, but he was an evil man even by the way he ignored him even though he knew that he was his son, it must have been far worse to whatever he did to his mother.   
  
******  
  
Jonathan was heading into the Institute as always and on arrival to Carrington's office, Joanna, Velvet and Sean were already present.  
  
"Ah Jonathan do come in" Carrington spotted him at the door  
  
"Is there anything wrong?" Jonathan asked as Carrington had gathered the group around the desk which usually meant a briefing.  
  
"Nothing is wrong, but a development has happened. We have evidence of a suspicious build up of troops in this location. Right in the middle of the city, even more unusual, all the weapons are supplied by our favourite used to be company, the DataDyne Corporation" Carrington said  
  
"With respect Sir, I do not see how this is really important" Joanna said "Several groups use the dataDyne weapons, because of their price and effectiveness" Joanna finished  
  
"It is important because the weapons order that I intercepted through transmission had several weapons that were never actually released. Of course if dataDyne is still running we have no problem with that, until they start doing things that would require action on our part. The difference is the order came from a branch that doesn't even exist" Carrington said  
  
"So you mean dataDyne is back in business?" Jonathan asked  
  
"dataDyne went out of business?" Sean asked  
  
"Yes, about a month and 2 weeks ago, the Skedar known as Mr. Blonde entered the building and blew up Lucerne Tower as well as taking Cassandra de Vries. Joanna met her on the assault ship when she was captured and Cassandra gave her life to allow a diversion for Joanna" Carrington explained  
  
"So do you think dataDyne are supplying newer and/or more powerful weapons to this strange location?" Velvet asked  
  
"That's exactly what I think, since this mysterious branch only made this transmission and nothing else. None of the other branches have released this mysterious newer stock" Carrington said  
  
"Trying to keep it hidden I guess" Joanna said  
  
"That's likely… although there are other possibilities" Carrington replied  
  
"What exactly is our assignment?" Sean asked  
  
"Simple, I want you to find what on Earth is going on there" Carrington said  
  
"All of us?" Velvet asked  
  
"Why not?" Carrington replied  
  
With that the 4 of them headed to the jumpship. It took about 20 minutes to arrive at their location, just outside the radar range so they wouldn't know they were coming. They walked around the city.  
  
"Try to blend in Sean" Jonathan joked  
  
"Hey just because I've been away from Earth for 8 years doesn't mean I've forgotten to be human" Sean replied  
  
"Hmm, two guards, how to get past?" Joanna asked the group   
  
"There is a high fence over there" Velvet said  
  
"Bet it's electrified" Jonathan commented  
  
"No problem" Velvet took out some kind of rope device.  
  
"Hey you, the four of you stop that" The 2 guards came running, Sean and Joanna were ready and knocked them out easily.   
  
"Vel, be more careful when using that thing" Joanna said brushing her knuckles  
  
"Sorry. It's safe. Just…" Velvet started but her sentence was interfered by gun fire. It was coming from those darkened alley ways. Jo and Jon both used their pistols to deter them.  
  
"Let's split, Vel and I will go down there, and tackle those guys" Jonathan suggested  
  
"Alright Jonathan, anything not to be partnered with you" Joanna commented sarcastically  
  
"I'm not that unbearable am I?" Jonathan asked and gave Jo a wink as he and Velvet ran down the alley ways.   
  
"Alright, Lomberson, let's move" Joanna said. Sean was on the other side of the fence waiting for her "Well that was fast" Joanna commented as she jumped down from the fence.  
  
"Thanks" Sean said  
  
Joanna and Sean crept around the base, Falcon 2 (scope) in hand for each of them. Eventually they came to a large open section.  
  
"So much space… so many guards" Joanna looked around  
  
"I doubt that. This is the oldest trick in the book" Sean said as he went out from his cover and shot one of the guards who dropped dead.  
  
"What are you doing!" Joanna shouted as multiple guards came their direction  
  
"Get out and shoot the ones in green" Sean said  
  
Joanna didn't understand it, but trusted Sean's judgement as she and Sean jumped out and shot down the guards in green. They all fell, the ones in blue seemed to stop and then vanish.  
  
"What?" Joanna said out of surprise "How did you know that?"   
  
"That's Skedar technology, it was famous in the war with the Maians to make it seem their numbers were much greater. The guards in blue had the same facial features and stuff, when there are no allies left around them, they vanish" Sean explained  
  
"Hmm. Very interesting" Joanna commented as she checked again to make sure she wasn't seeing things, the large area was now empty except for the two of them. Looking around they approached a door, however there was a ladder as well.  
  
"I'll take the ladder" Joanna said  
  
"Alright, let's see how this door opens" Sean looked at the door and it was unlocked  
  
"Like most people you have found it opens in the usual manner" Joanna laughed  
  
"Ah go climb the ladder" Sean said jokingly annoyed.   
  
Jonathan and Velvet went into the back alleyways, it was dark, trashed and the place seemed awful and hadn't been taken care of in a long time. The people they were chasing seemed to have disappeared.   
  
"Where did they get to?" Jonathan asked Velvet as she looked around cautiously   
  
"No idea. This place gives me the creeps. Probably just a bunch of gangs around here" Velvet replied  
  
"Firing Dragons? I doubt that, those things are expensive" Jonathan countered   
  
"True point" Velvet replied  
  
They had to watch their step as both of them were well aware of the Dragon's ability to be thrown and used as a proximity mine. Suddenly they heard gun shots but they were a lousy shot as the garbage bin about 10 metres away now had a bullet hole in it. Jonathan fired a few shots off and nailed the target, then both Jon and Velvet ran for cover as about 10 further men came in. Velvet fired a few shots, but they were moving into a retreat.  
  
"Jon they are retreating" Velvet said puzzled  
  
"Let's follow but pick up the Dragon" Jon suggested  
  
They walked carefully over to the Dragon and Velvet picked it up. They seemed to head for the next block. On approaching they attempted and ambush but as there was no real leader it was done in a rushed manner and Jonathan was able to exploit it as Velvet ran for cover behind one of the buildings and after Jonathan killed another one of the men he joined her gun shots coming behind him.  
  
"Rough neighbourhood" Jonathan commented  
  
"That's a slight understatement, but let's finish this" Velvet came out and threw her Dragon after removing the switch to activate the Proximity mine.  
  
"Vel what are you doing, that will never…" Jonathan started but he was interrupted by a sudden explosion. Several screams followed. A few weapons were blown past their hiding spot.   
  
"You were saying" Velvet smiled at Jonathan  
  
"You are becoming just as annoying as your sister you know that?" Jonathan said  
  
"Yes, I know" Velvet smiled yet again  
  
Jonathan and Velvet got a closer look at their victims, Jonathan guarded Velvet while she checked them out.   
  
"They just seem to be from a gang, why they attacked us though, and also why were they carrying Dragons, it all doesn't seem right" Velvet said  
  
"So we basically have nothing of who they are besides they attacked us and they were carrying Dragons" Jonathan said  
  
"Seems that way" Velvet replied "Still suspicious near this base and all"   
  
"True, but let's go back to the base. We should help Jo and Sean" Jonathan said  
  
"Agreed" Velvet nodded  
  
However on checking the fence it was electrified once more, and Velvet's device was destroyed by the gun shots fired at them.  
  
"Damn. Wendy isn't going to like this" Velvet shook her head  
  
"I think we should try the most obvious of entries, the front door" Jonathan said  
  
Velvet and Jonathan walked to the front door, although there were no guards the front door seemed to be made of steel. They tried to fire at it, hit it with their weapons but nothing seemed to work.  
  
"I guess they are on their own, let's report to Carrington" Jonathan said  
  
"Okay, hang in their Jo" Velvet said  
  
Joanna was climbing the ladder and she came to the top. Yet another door confronted her. Again it was unlocked. Then 3 guards who were inside looked towards Jo and went for their weapons but Jo took care of them easily. She followed a path down to an area marked laboratories. She was encountered with yet another door. It had a strange yellow coloured slot next to it, and unfortunately didn't open. Back tracking her steps she looked around the first room she was in for a key card of some kind, and on one of the guards was indeed a yellow key card.  
  
"Ah, I bet this opens the yellow slotted door" Joanna said out loud  
  
"Well duh!? Geez, you are even stupider then the last guy who almost killed me, I think about 8 years ago now" The guard on the floor said  
  
"And yet I killed you? Oh yeah not yet" Joanna fired her weapon and the guy dropped dead.  
  
Moving down to the labs and using the key card on the door it opened. Nobody was inside, not a single scientist or somebody that Jo wasn't allowed to kill. She really did hate it when people she couldn't kill could cause her to fail the mission. She read on the computer screen.  
  
With the designs the Skedar gave us about 2 months ago we have created electronically generated guards. They give the illusion of real people, but in reality it is just an illusion making it seem our numbers are a lot greater then they are. Mr. Easton was very pleased with my efforts, a promotion is assured. Although I do miss the way Cassandra ran things this new more undercover network between us and the other dataDyne branch involved is far better then ways of what some certain fool who should remain nameless wanted.   
  
"So Trent is behind this?" Joanna said to herself. She wondered what had happened to Trent and just as she was thinking the ground below raised. The very man she was talking about stood in front of her. He was no longer in a red suit, he wore a dark blue dataDyne uniform, the ones the officers wore, it looked highly strange on Trent. A red glow surrounded him, he had a shield. If Jo knew any better this was probably the shield that would somehow never wear off regardless of how often she shot it.   
  
"Joanna Dark we met again" Trent raised a Magnum to Joanna, it was not his custom DY357-LX it was the standard one  
  
"Lost a Magnum have we Trent?" Joanna asked raising her Falcon to Trent. She stole his DY357-LX golden magnum in a surprise attack while Trent was holding the president at gun point.  
  
"Yeah, I would like it back, this one just doesn't cut it" Trent said   
  
"Oh well, I don't know where it is" Joanna said as the two began to circle each other still with their guns facing each other  
  
"It doesn't matter anymore. Soon I will be able to come out from hiding… I will" Trent was going to continue but Joanna interrupted  
  
"Die? Honestly the US Government alone, has a few agents searching for you. If what ever is left of the Skedar come again, I'm sure you will be target number one on their list" Joanna said  
  
"Shut it Jo. This is the part where the author lets me talk about my evil plan to conquer the world" Trent said  
  
"Oh we both know it's all talk and is just there for storyline purposes, and isn't it a little soon for revealing your plan. In the last fic that didn't happen until chapter 14" Joanna replied  
  
"Fine, if you want me to spare the details, fire the first shot" Trent said  
  
Joanna and Trent stared at each other just like an old western except with an office setting, Jo had no shield, but she knew that Trent was not very good compared to her, the simulant in the training room way over rated on Trent's true abilities. It would only be a matter of time before Trent made a mistake but the question was could she exploit it before Trent put a bullet in her. 


	3. The end of the beginning

So sorry, I didn't even acknowledge my reviews last chapter. Too busy getting into Junior's story I guess. That was just a brainwave; I just had to type up all I could that night. I will write one chapter for this, then PD Kids and revert back to this unless I run out of ideas for one or the other, but for kids I've got a few more ideas. This is taking a lot longer due to me being busy now, I had virtually nothing to do a month ago, hence the reason why you were getting updates every three days.   
  
Cristalina: Yeah Trent is a bastard. Nothing new there, but don't think of Junior as a mini Trent despite his name or names rather, not that you were. You are going to find that Junior is very different from his father. I knew you'd find it funny if I used the nameless "well duh" guard again.   
  
As for your chapter 1 review, yup Sean is back, and yes a sequel to the prequel if that makes any sense at all. How do I know all this stuff? Well it just goes to show how much time I had on my hands before, various web pages have information on things that are/were going to be in Perfect Dark. More interesting information will probably leak somewhere, like that some of the gadgets in Goldeneye were going to be in Perfect Dark, even some that were never going to be in Goldeneye like the grenade pen.   
  
Spiderbear: I will… don't worry about not saying anything useful if you can't think of anything. I know you like it by reviewing it.   
  
Lets begin…  
  
Joanna faced Trent and fired the first shot. It glanced off the shield as Trent fired his Magnum back, he was far too slow as Joanna side stepped it firing multiple shots. They were not weakening the shield at all, how could he be beaten if she couldn't shoot him…  
  
"I take it you like my new shield… if you can get this thing down with that popgun, ill eat my Magnum" Trent taunted  
  
Joanna ignored the comment as she tried to think up a way she could defeat him. Trent suddenly drew a rocket launcher. Jo was caught of guard, badly, she tried to get away but there were lasers around her blocking her way, she was trapped! Trent had bobby trapped the room, damn that guy was cheap.   
  
"Now I personally think you move too much, time to put a stop to that so I can hit you. This is the end my dear" Trent smiled and fired the rocket  
  
It blew up on contact with the wall, the window behind Jo shattered and she was pushed back by the force of the explosion.   
  
"Goodbye Miss Dark" Trent laughed evilly  
  
"Hey I've always wanted to do that… just like Cassandra" Trent continued his evil smiling   
  
Sean meanwhile was continuing through the building, there were only a few mirage guards, but they were no problem as once the original was dead the others faded. He continued and went into this garden like area, which compared to the military like base, with its electric fences, outposts, and large amounts of mirage guards it looked out of place. Three real guards came and opened fire, Sean took cover and then locked on to all of them with the CMP150, before he heard some take cover and he jumped out and shot one of them who was waiting for Sean to make the first move, because of the lock on it was easy to see when they were going to jump out, taking advantage of this he killed both guards easily.   
  
He moved through the garden into another building with another unlocked door. Sean was puzzled, why were there so many unlocked doors. Something didn't seem right. This time 4 guards came, so Sean retreated back outside, and used "the wait outside and wait for the guards to come to you trick". Predictably the guards thought there numbers were greater so gave chase but by the time they opened the door Sean had locked onto each of them and blasted 3 of them by the time the door was completely opened and the last one by the time he raised his weapon.   
  
"Well that was easy" Sean said to himself  
  
He walked back in and the first locked door was in front of him, but yet again, one of the guards held a key, it was lying on the ground not far from the door. He went to pick it up.  
  
"Hold it right there" A male voice was heard. Sean felt the gun of the person near him, it was a pistol of some sort.  
  
"Stand up slowly" He ordered  
  
Sean stood up but in doing so he rose a little faster then the guy behind him had anticipated knocking him in the nose. Taking advantage of the impact, Sean turned to face his opponent and quickly shot him down. The gun was holding a Magsec4, rather unusual for dataDyne, Sean thought. He also had a key card on him, it seemed this guy was highly ranked because of the blue uniform.  
  
He continued through the building, and came to a strange lab. There were already dead guards in there. Falcon bullets, Joanna had already been here. Using the key card on another door he expected to find more dead guards. Not so, they gladly opened fire using their Dragons. Slightly caught off Sean took cover once more, there was no other option. It seemed there were 5 of them at least, so Sean didn't jump out and try to kill them all, he just hid behind the wall and fired in the narrow corridor until the ammo ran out, judging by the screams he had got most of the guards. He swapped for his Falcon 2 scope, and moved on.   
  
*****   
  
"What do you mean you can't get inside!?" Carrington demanded  
  
"The gate is electrified and Velvet's device got blown up. There is nothing we can do" Jonathan replied to a slightly angry but more worried Carrington.   
  
"I hope they'll be alright" Carrington sighed "Although why were you sidetracked in the first place? Why didn't you enter with Jo and Sean?" Carrington asked  
  
"We were attacked by a strange group. Velvet and I held them off and chased them while Joanna and Sean climbed the fence" Jonathan explained  
  
"Why did you continue to pursue them?" Carrington asked  
  
"Nobody just shoots at a group of people looking like they will go over a fence in a suburban area. Especially with Dragons" Jonathan continued "Velvet and I chased, and they fired back, eventually we got them all" Jonathan said  
  
"Dragons? Now that makes it very interesting, no street gang could afford Dragons" Carrington thought  
  
"That's what we thought, but couldn't make anything else out from it" Jonathan replied  
  
"I'll keep you posted on that one. Tina!" Carrington called for Tina, Grimshaw's new assistant in Hacker Central, unlike Grimshaw she was really nice and got along with everybody, she was the one who did most of the profiling at the Institute these days. Jonathan and Velvet could hear Carrington saying something to Tina but couldn't hear exactly what.  
  
"Anyway keep me posted on Jo and Sean will you? Carrington out" Carrington said  
  
"Definitely" Jonathan replied as Carrington cut the line  
  
*****  
  
Sean continued up through the building, the 5 guards he encountered in the corridor were the only ones, until he came across two guarding a door. They hadn't seen him, and Sean took full advantage of the scope of the Falcon 2 and nailed both guards. On approaching the door it seemed to have a coded lock.   
  
"Sean to Grimshaw" Sean said, hoping he wouldn't regret having to ask Grimshaw a favour later.  
  
"Yes?" His voice replied, Sean was tempted to hang the line there but decided against it.  
  
"Hack the door for me would you?" Sean asked   
  
"Ooookay" Grimshaw said in a strange way that made Sean take a few steps backwards as if he was freaked out even though Grimshaw wasn't there.  
  
Within 10 seconds the door was open. Sean looked around, it was an office. There had definitely been a fight here. The papers that were probably neatly stacked on the desk a moment ago were on the floor and there was glass on the floor, not to mention the hole in the wall.   
  
"Could it be?" A voice said  
  
Sean went for his Falcon 2. It was Trent.   
  
"So you are back after 8 years" Trent said  
  
"Who are you?" Sean had never met Trent before  
  
"You work for the Institute, I know you, yet you don't know me?" Trent asked  
  
"What's it matter. Where's Joanna" Sean had worked out it was probably Joanna who this guy was fighting. Joanna wouldn't lose to this guy, he looked weak.  
  
"Geez you get right to the point don't you, I will answer one of your questions, I'm Trent Easton and I will be the man who will be killing you now" Trent went for his Magnum and started to fire. Sean ducked behind one of the chairs and continued moving as the Magnum bullets could pass through the chair. So this guy was the much talked about Trent Easton former head of the NSA, he looked a lot weaker than Sean had imagined him. He stood up and fired but they bounced uselessly off Trent's shield. Trent smirked but it was a mistake as he expected Sean to continue firing.   
  
Sean tried a completely different strategy to Joanna before him, he went after Trent while he tried to get a chance to reload knowing Sean couldn't shoot him. Trent was not prepared for this tactic and dropped the gun because he could never reload it fast enough since Sean had thrown a punch. Trent expected it to merely bunch off the shield. It wasn't to be.  
  
"OW! You bastard!" Trent shouted as he took a blow cleanly to the eye, his shield didn't protect against hand to hand blows.   
  
A/N: This will be probably Sean's last hand to hand combat for a major fight scene at least for a while. I use it a lot and it's time I tried something else, but it's needed for this part of the fic. Also since when does a tense battle scene in Bond movies and stuff end where the bad guy is simply shot instead of a cool fighting sequence or something… only one or two from memory. So if you are wondering why I use a lot of fight scenes that is the reason… purely to make it slightly more exciting.   
  
Trent tried to go for this computer console but Sean saw the move and blew it up with the Falcon 2 before Trent could get to it.  
  
"Damn, that was my best chance yet" Trent said. He knew he could never face Sean in hand to hand combat. He tried to look for another opportunity, but Sean had already come to him. Trent went for a low kick but Sean caught it and hit him in the face multiple times before tossing Trent outside onto the balcony that overlooked the city. Although normally it would overlook the city and ocean on a beautiful blue cloudless day, today it was fairly cloudy so it didn't really deliver the look it could have. Still it looked good.   
  
"Nice place you have Easton" Sean said in the tone of someone who was just staying at their place for a social visit.   
  
Trent was too bloodied up and annoyed to reply. He coughed up a bit of blood, before standing once more to face Sean.   
  
"For so young you fight well… but this ends now" Trent said  
  
"For you?" Sean replied  
  
"You wish" Trent had got a bit of energy back as he went for a remote control. Sean tried to stop him but he had already pressed it by the time Sean knocked it out his hands it was too late. However it had seemed nothing had happened. Sean went to punch but Trent blocked and it seemed he had a lot more force, Trent seemed more confident in his abilities too. Trent went for a punch but when Sean blocked it still hurt more then it should have. Somehow Trent must have greatly improved his strength in a second. Trent was soon standing in front of him and went for a kick, he seemed faster too, Sean dodged and moved into a fighting pose ready to take Trent seriously.   
  
"It is no good. You may have the power naturally but you should know, that alone can't win" Trent gave a smile  
  
Again Sean didn't react to Trent's taunting. Trent went in and charge his punch, Sean knew blocking wouldn't be much better then taking the hit directly so evaded and tried to counter with a quick standing sweep but Trent jump backwards to avoid it. Sean continued his defensive pose waiting for an opportunity, his father may have been long dead and may have betrayed him but there was one lesson he taught that he never forgot…  
  
"When it all seems overwhelming, watch your opponent, a mistake is certain to appear out of overconfidence" Adrian echoed through his head. As much as Sean disliked his father now, he knew that memory couldn't be more accurate.   
  
Trent continued to attack trying to corner Sean but he was too quick, rolling underneath Trent's attack or jumping over it when in the corner to get more space. Trent was getting frustrated, and Sean moved in for an attack, but it was a feint and Trent fell right into it. Trent swing his fist high but he missed as Sean retreated and then Sean let out a kick to Trent's stomach. The same one he had used on Adrian to kill him, it was designed to be forceful and push the opponent backwards, and this is exactly what it did to Trent as he staggered backwards and crashed through the wooden barrier around the balcony and fell off. But Trent's left hand fingers grabbed the edge. He tried to get up, but Sean stood in the way and stood on his left hand with his foot.  
  
Trent winced as the pain went through him. Trent said nothing. Neither did Sean. Both just stared at each other. Eventually Sean decided to finish this and stomped heavily on Trent's hand, the pain was too great for Trent as he let go and fell to his doom, screaming the entire way down.   
  
"SEAN!!!" Somebody's voice yelled out for him, it was somebody over the balcony…  
  
He looked down, on another balcony somebody was waving trying to get his attention. It was Joanna!  
  
"Joanna!?" Sean asked puzzled  
  
"Don't just stand there! Call the jumpship in. Don't bother with the door it's locked…" Joanna shouted, she seemed like she was in pain.   
  
"Lomberson to Carrington" Sean put in through the radio  
  
"Carrington here" Carrington replied  
  
"Joanna is hurt, she needs a jumpship on the…" Sean thought for a moment "East side of the building" Sean told Carrington  
  
"Will she be okay?" Carrington asked concerned. Despite his mission is the top priority attitude he did begin to relate well and became caring over his better known agents, and staff.   
  
"I'm not sure, I can't see her too well… she about 5 floors up" Sean guessed by looking from the top to the bottom. She must have been blown out the window and fell 3 stories, how on Earth did she survive that? Sean thought.   
  
Sean decided to meet up with Jonathan and Velvet back outside. He walked back into Trent's office but there was somebody there, it was a kid, he couldn't be older than 9, he had clothes that looked too small for him, and looked well worn out. What was a kid doing here of all places?  
  
"Who are you?" Sean asked in a calm way. How on Earth did he get in?  
  
The kid stayed silent, he seemed upset about something.   
  
"I… I am looking for someone" He said finally said.   
  
"Who?" Sean asked  
  
"It's not important… I'm leaving" The kid said  
  
"There is no one here but me now, come on let me take you outside" Sean tried to be on his guard, this kid could very well be a new kind of trick Trent had planned for him, however there was some kind of instinct that told Sean this kid wasn't playing games, so it was hard to be ready to draw his Falcon at a moments notice.   
  
They passed through the many dead guards however the kid didn't seem to be bothered by it. He seemed to be thinking about something else.  
  
"What's your name?" Sean asked trying to make conversation  
  
The kid was silent again.  
  
"Jack" The kid replied  
  
Sean suspected the kid made the name up, but continued to play along.  
  
"I still don't know how you got in… I mean this is fairly high security" Sean said  
  
"Meh" The kid shrugged   
  
They were soon outside the building. The kid seemed to walk in the direction of the park, it was empty though, Sean needed to get information out of him, there was no way he could have got through the front door, and the fence was electrified so how did he get in?  
  
The kid continued to walk around in circles around the park, Sean tried to think up something to say.   
  
"Where are you going?" Sean asked  
  
"Why do you care" The kid suddenly changed his tone from a very quiet one to highly aggressive one.   
  
"You killed my father you bastard!!!" The kid shouted and punched Sean in the stomach and tried to follow up by stepping on Sean's toes but Sean stopped him, and pushed him away in an attempt to stop him but he pushed a little harder then he wanted to and the kid fell to the ground. He sat up and suddenly burst into tears…   
  
A/N: This may be a little unusual for my writing, but again there is a point for it.   
  
"I… I am sorry" The kid apologized through the tears "I am ... so lost and confused" he continued "I don't know what I am going to do"   
  
Sean sat down beside him, his father? Was it one of the guards? Or could it be Trent himself. Unlikely this kid looked really poor.   
  
"I only killed your father because it was my job. It was either him or me… I'm sorry too" Sean said  
  
"Don't apologize. I am grateful for you killing him… I think…" The kid continued… now Sean was very confused. The kid goes and attacks him for killing his father, now he is grateful for it.  
  
"What's your name… you're actual name" Sean asked  
  
"… Junior… is what everybody I know calls me, but I was actually named Trent as I found out today" Junior told him, he was still very upset.  
  
"Junior as in Trent Easton Junior?" Sean asked  
  
"Yes. Trent Easton is… well was my father" Junior explained  
  
"Okay, why don't you tell me your story, everything that has got you here with me. I think you need to tell somebody" Sean said, he wasn't very experienced in this fatherly stuff so tried not to say the wrong thing.   
  
"Do you really want to hear it?" Junior asked  
  
"Of course" Sean replied  
  
"If it isn't obvious enough, my mother and I were very poor. She had some kind of illness that needed to be treated but there was no way we could afford the treatment. I wake up today and she asks me to go find Trent, she tells me he is my father so I go to the office where she told me and tell the guards that I am supposedly his son. I didn't think they'd believe me but they did and they let me in and took me up to Trent. Trent says he doesn't know anything of me or my mother, I beg him to help my mother but he said no before getting me kicked out of the building. I come back home, to find my mother in her last moments…" Junior started to cry again "she… she… died soon after" Junior cried more.  
  
Sean remained silent. He decided it would be wrong to push Junior any further at this time. However he begun to speak again.  
  
"She told me that…" Junior stopped there  
  
"It's alright, you don't have to tell me now" Sean said  
  
"No… I want to do this, I don't know if ill be able to tell anybody else" Junior replied. Sean let Junior continue. "My mother said that she and Trent were married and they split up while she was still pregnant with me. I don't know why, but she thought it was her fault or something and named me Trent but later learned it wasn't her fault but in fact that Trent had betrayed her so then started to call me Junior from then onwards. I hated Trent deeply when she told me that, I wanted to do something… I don't know what I could have done, but it anything was better then nothing. I walked back and there was a gun battle and I took one of pistols on the ground and hid it…here" Junior said handing the Magsec4 to Sean. Sean had questions, but he decided to let Junior tell the full story first.   
  
"I went to the front door, but nobody was there. I got to the door and I remember the guard pressing 4 buttons by putting his hand in a certain spot. I only guessed and didn't expect it to work but it did and the door opened. I went through the base and saw a few dead guards, but when I was taken through the first time there were many more. I went back up to Trent's office and saw you kick him off the edge of the building, after that you shouted to somebody called Joanna, I watched you and just as you were about to turn around I went to hide, but you had already seen me" Junior finished explaining and put his head on Sean's shoulder and cried once more. Sean didn't know what to do, he just did what he instinctively thought and put his arms around Junior and let him cry it out. This kid must have had it pretty rough, living in a neighbourhood that seemed to have violence regularly, by the look of him he looked like he had barely eaten for a while, finding out that his mother was related to Trent Easton and losing both his parents on the same day. It reminded him of himself, he too had lost his parents on the same day, well almost, he did lose his mother and he lost his father as far as him being there for him was concerned, although clearly the younger Trent or Junior as he probably would like to be known as had it a lot tougher then he did. Sean felt slightly guilty for killing Trent, even though Junior seemed to be far more upset with losing his mother, as for his father it was tough to judge Junior's true feelings, by words he wanted him dead, by actions he wanted him alive. Actions speak louder then words, but did Junior attack Sean out of wanting his father alive or out of everything that has happened and wanted somebody to blame for it since Trent was dead.   
  
Junior stopped crying and pulled back.  
  
"Thanks for listening. I guess it's a bit late now, but what's your name and what is your job that requires you to kill?" Junior asked  
  
"My name is Sean Lomberson, I'm an agent for the Carrington Institute, we basically keep the peace and stuff" Sean said. Junior did tell him a lot about himself, so Sean returned the favour but of course he couldn't tell Junior everything.   
  
"What am I going to do now though? I have nothing" Junior sighed deeply  
  
"Hey, listen… I kind of killed your Dad so.. I guess you can stick around with me for a while... if you want… if not…" Sean started   
  
"Would you really?" Junior asked  
  
"Yeah, at least till we can work something out, I don't know what. I lost my parents too when I was around your age" Sean said "A man came and took care of me too"  
  
"Thanks… I guess you understand how I feel a bit" Junior said  
  
"Yeah believe me, I have to go back to the Institute and let my boss know what happened but we can get something to eat or whatever you want there…" Sean said  
  
"Okay… but… I don't know, I'm hungry but I'm not, I'm so lost and confused in everything… I mean I am grateful for you looking after me for a while, but I am going to miss my Mum a lot" Junior looked down  
  
"Know the feeling, you don't have to explain it to me" Sean replied  
  
Junior was still upset inside, but at least he wasn't going to die alone on the streets or get shot or something. He had something to live for…   
  
****  
  
I'm sorry I'm not very good at that kind of stuff, but it needed to be done, and now it has… Hopefully I will be able to update a lot sooner then I did last time… Oh and as for Suzan, she in Chapter 4… I couldn't resist… I like her character a lot thanks Cristalina. 


	4. The rough debriefing

Cristalina: Well Suzan isn't very nice at all in this chapter and as I told you (and asked permission about three times for all my fics) Sarah is in this too.   
  
Joanna was hurting, what was taking that damn ship so long.   
  
"Well at least I'm not dead" she said out loud.  
  
"Hey Joanna" Somebody called out  
  
When Joanna looked down and saw who it was, when she did she almost wished she was dead. It was Jonathan. Oh here comes the jokes… she thought.   
  
Jonathan stepped onto the balcony she was on and knelt down to her, Joanna didn't want to look at him for fear of a bad joke.  
  
"Come on we've got to get you out of here" Jonathan said. Wait a tick, that voice was concerned, caring. She looked up and saw Jonathan and Velvet in front of her going to lift her up.  
  
"Thanks Jonathan" Joanna replied as Jonathan and Velvet helped pick her up and put her in the jumpship. The doctor Sarah started to have a look at her.  
  
A/N: Yeah, I'm using Sarah again, thanks Cristalina. In using other author's original characters it makes them seem more real to the actual story, and it gives them more of a background. Also just to spare the extra authors note, Suzan will be coming into this soon as well.   
  
Jonathan was concerned. Although his rival, Joanna was good to be around. Sarah looked over Joanna's now unconscious body and Velvet was near tears.  
  
"Will…will she be okay?" Velvet asked  
  
"A close call but she should be fine in about a week, a bit of rest will do her good, not only for her injuries but for herself, she's been on her feet constantly for weeks" Sarah said  
  
"Carrington isn't going to like that" Jonathan said  
  
"Well with respect, Carrington works Joanna far too hard, I mean within three days of her returning from the Skedar planet she is already doing something else" Sarah was checking Joanna for other injuries aside the obvious ones she caused by the fall.   
  
"Perhaps, but how else do we pay the rent" Velvet gave a slight laugh to hide her deep concern despite what Sarah just told her. Both Sarah and Jonathan knew very well the Velvet and Joanna owned a fairly expensive apartment, well located as far as everything went, except the Institute which was in the middle of nowhere. It had to be that way because they were less obvious to other spies, which mainly used to be dataDyne, after the first attack on the Carrington Institute, Carrington revealed to them a newer but smaller base that had been under construction for some time.   
  
"Hmm. She has cuts and a she took it hard on her back, but it seems no permanent damage has been done, do you know what happened to her?" Sarah asked  
  
"Not a clue, although I'd imagine the cuts came from the glass she jumped out of" Jonathan said  
  
The jumpship soon arrived at the Institute; Joanna was taken straight to the newly placed infirmary which was on the bottom floor of the main part of the Institute. Jonathan and Velvet followed and Carrington arrived soon as well.  
  
"Jonathan can I see you for a moment?" Carrington asked  
  
"Sure" Jonathan replied as he and Carrington came out, leaving Velvet with Sarah and Joanna.   
  
They walked over to Carrington's office.  
  
"Is there anything wrong?" Jonathan asked  
  
"In a way. Two things, have you heard from Sean at all?" Carrington asked  
  
"No, haven't heard anything since he went over with Joanna" Jonathan replied  
  
"His communicator isn't working that's all. I just hope he's alright" Carrington sighed  
  
"And the other thing?" Jonathan asked  
  
"What happened during the mission?" Carrington asked  
  
"Oh, well there isn't much more to tell, after Velvet and I chased that group of guys and we killed them, nothing else, aside the fact they were using dragons, and I personally think they were put there on purpose" Jonathan said  
  
"Hmm, maybe after Joanna comes around she'll be able to tell us more" Carrington said  
  
  
  
There was a knock at the door.  
  
"Come in" Carrington's voice called out  
  
The door opened and it was Suzan.  
  
"Telephone call from a lost little boy" Suzan said with a big fake smile  
  
"What?" Carrington asked puzzled "What are you talking about?"  
  
"I'm talking about Sean, oh and could you tell Joanna to stop her whining, I can't concentrate on my work" Suzan said with a frown  
  
"Hey, leave Joanna alone!" Jonathan said angered by Suzan's insensitivity  
  
"Oooo, looking for love a second time are we?" Suzan said   
  
"Get lost you fucking bitch!" Jonathan shouted out. He rarely swore like that especially in front of Carrington, but what Suzan had said really annoyed him, although Natasha had died more than 8 years ago.   
  
"Jonathan that's enough! Suzan, just give me the call" Carrington said annoyed with Suzan as he took the video call from Suzan's line. Suzan left the office and went back to the newly placed front desk.   
  
As the image came on screen it was Sean who was calling from a payphone, far more advanced the ones we have around today.   
  
"Sean?! What happened, why wouldn't your communicator work?" Carrington asked  
  
"Because I switched it off and couldn't get it back on again" Sean replied  
  
"Why did you switch it off, don't you know once you switch it off you have to use a password to start it up again?" Carrington asked puzzled  
  
"No, because I've only been here 2 days" Sean replied  
  
"Oh…. of course you have… but it still doesn't answer why you switched it off in the first place" Carrington said  
  
"It's a long story, but I just wanted to let you know I was still alive, see you in 20 minutes" Sean said  
  
"Alright bye" Carrington replied  
  
Jonathan watched the screen close and Carrington walked back to his desk.  
  
"Damn interception stuff we have to worry about" Carrington grumbled  
  
"Yeah, pretty annoying" Jonathan replied  
  
"I still don't know why he'd switch off the communicator for. You only do this if you are captured or something, but Sean would know this but he seemed to know what he was doing" Carrington said  
  
Meanwhile Velvet was kneeling next to Joanna as Sarah was examining her more closely. Joanna was occasionally groaning but still had her eyes shut, it was like watching somebody have a nightmare.   
  
"How is Joanna, will she be alright" Velvet asked for the fifth time within 5 minutes in a real panicked state  
  
"Okay, according to this she should be alright. She's tough, that's for sure, according to these pictures and stats of Joanna, she fell at least 2 stories then landed on her feet but then she lost her balance and fell to the ground, causing a minor injury to her ankles and a bit of a bruise her back and she hit her head fairly hard but not enough to damage her permanently. Considering what happened that's very good, but she'll need a week to completely recover" Sarah said  
  
Velvet gave a sigh of relief "Well that's good, I worry a lot about Joanna. Even on the least dangerous of missions, but what about that groaning and her rolling around, it's like she's having a bad dream of some kind" Velvet said  
  
"Hmm… I don't know, she doesn't seem to be in a dreaming state according to the computer" Sarah replied "I wouldn't worry about it" Sarah said  
  
Suddenly the pair heard Joanna groan louder as she opened her eyes.   
  
"Owwwwwwwww… where I am?" Joanna asked as she sat up and rubbed her head  
  
"Jo, its Velvet. You are in the Institute. Jonathan, Sarah and I came after you after Sean told us where you were" Velvet said quietly knowing Joanna would probably be hurting still.  
  
"I thought I'd wake up dead" Joanna said  
  
"We were all worried" Velvet was much calmer as Joanna had regain consciousness   
  
"Yeah me included, when Trent fired that rocket off at me, I thought I was gone for sure" Joanna said  
  
"Trent? You mean Trent Easton?" Velvet asked surprised  
  
"Yeah. Anyway, no offence Vel, but can we not talk about the mission" Joanna said  
  
"Okay" Velvet said   
  
"I think you may want to let Joanna rest, you may get more answers out of her later" Sarah said  
  
"Alright, but please let me know if anything goes wrong" Velvet said  
  
"Okay, but it should be all fine from here" Sarah said  
  
"Bye then" Velvet walked out  
  
Velvet sighed deeply as she walked from the infirmary, she cared and loved Joanna a lot but she always felt in Joanna's shadow one step behind. Then again, a lot of people were in Joanna's shadow, mostly Jonathan who was assigned on the most part to undercover assignments, but something Joanna didn't know was that Jonathan had a handicap in movement because of the Maian leg replacement surgery, Jonathan told this to Velvet on the condition she wouldn't tell Joanna or talk about it with anybody but Carrington, so far she had held true to that. Velvet was walking by the front door in the Institute when it opened and Sean entered. Along side him was a kid who was wearing clothes that were two sizes too small for him and worn out.   
  
"Hey Sean, who's this?" Velvet asked  
  
"This is Junior, it's a long story. I'm just going to introduce him to Carrington and then somebody can take him to the cafeteria while I talk to Carrington" Sean said  
  
"Umm okay… I'll do that then" Velvet replied  
  
Sean, Velvet and Junior caught the lift and went to the second floor and entered Carrington's office. Jonathan was still present.   
  
"Ah Sean, glad to see you, but who is this?" Carrington asked  
  
"This is Trent Easton Junior, he's Trent Easton's son but he's been known as Junior his entire life. He's had a bit of a tough time, and hasn't eaten for a while" Sean explained  
  
"Yeah, I'll take him down" Velvet said   
  
"Thanks" Sean gave a smile as Velvet left the office  
  
"Right. Well what happened from your point of view?" Carrington asked  
  
"I climbed this ladder and seemed to work myself the back way into the main building, I noticed Joanna's handiwork later on and climbed the top of the tower. Trent Easton senior was there, there was a hole in the wall and later I learned that's where Joanna probably fell out of somehow. Anyway we get into a fight and…" Sean was starting the next part of the story but Carrington interrupted him  
  
"Hold on a second, you mean that Trent is or was still alive?" Carrington asked surprised  
  
"Yes why?" Sean asked  
  
"He went missing quite some time ago, just after his plan with the Skedar failed and the both the US Government and of course the Institute were looked for him. It was later reported that Trent had been killed on Victoria island near Alaska at the hands of what we believed was a Skedar" Jonathan explained "Are you certain it was him?" Jonathan asked  
  
"I'm definitely certain because now that I think about it, I remember him roughly and he even said who he was" Sean replied  
  
"Very well. After you got into a fight with Trent what happened then?" Carrington asked  
  
"Well to cut it short I knocked him off the balcony after he used some kind of device by remote control to make him stronger. I'm not sure whether it was a drug that was only placed when he wanted or whether it was alien technology" Sean said  
  
"Then when did you meet his son?" Carrington asked  
  
"Not long after, I saw him in Trent's office after I knocked Trent off the building. I didn't know who he was, but he was a kid for one and he didn't look to well off as you saw. I took him outside but he seemed upset about something. I also wondered how did a kid get into a building that Velvet and Jonathan couldn't get into" Sean continued to tell his story  
  
"Hmm… interesting go on" Carrington said  
  
"I followed him for a while, and then he gets really annoyed and he tries to attack me for killing his father, which I thought was one of the guards but I stopped him and then he burst into tears and told me everything" Sean replied  
  
"What is everything?" Carrington asked  
  
"I'll try sum this up as best as I can, I turned off my communicator so I could give him my full attention and I didn't think it would be good if you tried to contact me while he was telling me something really important. He told me who he was, because I thought when he said his father he meant one of the guards, because he looked like he was barely surviving, but no he was indeed Trent's son. Anyway Junior found his mother this morning was close to dying and his mother told him to get some help from Trent. Junior didn't even know he had a father until his mother told him, so Junior goes up to Trent's office to see him, the guards let him in but on meeting Trent he denies ever having a wife or a kid. Junior comes home and his mother soon dies, then he leaves. He then picks up a Magsec4 after there was a fire fight and then remembered the positioning of the guards hand to get inside. However he found it a lot emptier since Jo and I cleaned it out, then he came to Trent's office and saw me knock Trent off the building" Sean finished explained.  
  
Carrington was silent for a long time.   
  
"It's interesting, because our records never record Trent having married, or anything like that" Carrington said  
  
"Junior didn't say it, but I suspect Trent tampered with the NSA records so that nobody could trace him to his former wife. Junior doesn't even know his father not only was he head of the NSA, he was also in contact with the Skedar, and obviously he is totally clueless to who the Maians and the Skedar are. The only way I covered my reason for killing him was by saying it was my job. Junior I think was grateful for me killing Trent but he feels very lost at the moment, he's been living it quite hard for a number of years I imagine" Sean said  
  
Velvet was taking Junior over to the cafeteria. Junior was silent. Velvet knew that Junior had probably been through a lot so kept the questions basic as they entered the cafeteria.  
  
"What would you like?" Velvet asked   
  
"I don't know" Junior replied  
  
"Alright, I'm just going to have some fish" Velvet said  
  
"I'll have that then" Junior said  
  
Velvet went over and within 5 seconds two meals of fish and a few vegetables with some chips was ready; Junior hadn't seen anything like it.   
  
"Thank you, what's your name again?" Junior asked  
  
"I'm Velvet Dark, and Junior isn't it?" Velvet asked  
  
"Yeah, but as Sean said, my actual name is Trent. I haven't known this my entire life, my mother only told me today" Junior replied  
  
"You like you've had it tough" Velvet looked as Junior ate slowly; he finished chewing before replying with…  
  
"Perhaps, but nothing as hard as this" Junior said  
  
"Yeah finding out you are the son of a guy who is being hunted for by multiple organisations, then he died just as you knew he existed" Velvet was trying to show sympathy.   
  
"Trent's death doesn't bother me at all, my mother though…" Junior stopped   
  
"How awful, I'm sorry I won't talk about it anymore" Velvet said  
  
Junior nodded in thanks. Velvet was amazed, she was really upset that Joanna had a close call with death yet Junior had lost both of his parents and while he had seemed to got really upset and told Sean what had happened he was just eating calmly.   
  
"Can I ask you a question?" Junior asked  
  
"Sure" Velvet replied  
  
"What do you know about my father? What did he do to get so much attention?" Junior asked  
  
Velvet thought for a moment, in reality she wasn't really supposed to tell this kind of information to anybody that wasn't in the Institute but he was Trent's own son, he had a right to know. It should be alright as long as she kept out the part that Trent had relations with the Skedar.   
  
"This is information I'm not really supposed to tell you…" Velvet started  
  
"Oh of course not, I'm sorry" Junior replied with a slightly disappointed look  
  
"However, you have a right to know, you are his son after all" Velvet finished  
  
Junior said nothing as he gave Velvet his full attention  
  
"You see your father was the head of the National Security Agency, he made a deal with a rival company known as dataDyne. They needed something that the US Government had and the only way they could get it is with Presidential approval. Trent tried to talk the President into loaning this device to dataDyne but the President refused multiple times. As a result dataDyne and Trent came up with a plan to clone the President; however Joanna stopped Trent and saved the President. After that Trent went missing, we thought he was dead as the US government had sent a lot of spies around to look for Trent, but nobody could find him until today" Velvet said  
  
Junior was silent for a moment  
  
"Then how did my Mum know where to find him?" Junior asked  
  
It was now Velvet's turn to be silent, she had no idea. Trent's records never even remotely suggested he married or had kids or anything like that. Maybe Trent had tampered with records to erase any kind of record that could give away his location. Although it still didn't answer how Junior's Mum knew where Trent was.   
  
"I honestly don't know" It was all Velvet could say  
  
"Thank you Velvet" Junior said  
  
Velvet gave a smile and sat with Junior a little longer. Soon Carrington, Sean and Jonathan joined them.  
  
"It's good to see him eating, it looked like he would pass out any second" Sean commented  
  
"Sean? A quick word?" Carrington said  
  
"Umm alright" Sean was slightly caught off guard as Carrington was just in the office talking to him.   
  
Carrington and Sean walk outside of the cafeteria.  
  
"Is he alright?" Jonathan asked Velvet quietly  
  
"It's going to take him a while I think" Velvet replied  
  
"Yeah, it's not easy recovering from those kind of things" Jonathan said  
  
Sean and Carrington walked a good distance from the cafeteria out of ear shot of everybody else.  
  
"Sean, with Junior…" Carrington said  
  
"I'm going to take care of him… like you did for me" Sean replied  
  
"That was quite different" Carrington said  
  
"With respect sir, what is the difference aside the circumstances of how it happened?" Sean asked   
  
"He's Trent's son that's all. Don't mind me, I'm sure you know what you are doing, just make sure you do a better job then I did, or he'll become an agent at age 19 like you did" Carrington said  
  
"Yeah but I turned out fine didn't I?" Sean asked  
  
"Well, almost" Carrington said  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Sean asked  
  
"You missed out on a great deal of your life, especially your later teenage years, due to the Institute. While this has given many upsides for humans and Maians alike, I'm not sure you are entirely happy with the way you were almost forced to lead your life" Carrington said  
  
Sean knew Carrington was right, but in Junior's case it was very different, this kid has nothing at all.   
  
"Perhaps, but the only reason I managed to make so many humans and Maians happy was because I killed the Skedar prince which caused me to be chased by the Skedar and then as a result I lived on the Maian planet for 8 years. If Junior is going to have a story like that one I don't think there is anything I can do to prevent it" Sean replied  
  
"Very well. However it could have very easily been that you could have turned out very different. So I wish you good luck" Carrington said  
  
"Thanks" Sean replied before heading back into the cafeteria   
  
****  
  
Yeah I know, a bit dull this chapter but I needed a fair bit of time to set up some storylines especially Junior's storyline and what's to follow, but don't worry original characters aren't going to dominate the story. 


	5. More mystery

Junior seemed a little more satisfied for the moment with the answer Velvet had given him, Sean had returned with Carrington.  
  
"Listen, Junior. Just to confirm you are Trent's son, I need to run a quick test" Carrington said  
  
"Will it hurt?" Junior asked  
  
"Of course not" Carrington gave a chuckle "I'll be right back"   
  
Carrington walked out of the cafeteria once more.  
  
"So that is your boss?" Junior asked  
  
"Yeah, that's him" Sean replied  
  
"He seems nice" Junior said  
  
"At times, but he can be very hard. Especially on his good agents, Joanna is so overworked at the moment, Daniel's not going to like that Jo's got to take at least a week off" Velvet said  
  
"Is it that serious?" Jonathan asked  
  
"I'm not sure; Sarah seemed to think she needed at least a week to completely heal. Although this could be because Sarah wants Jo to rest, because Carrington has worked her so hard" Velvet replied  
  
Carrington had returned into the cafeteria with a small plastic device.  
  
"Now just let me place this on your arm" Carrington said approaching Junior  
  
"Okay" Junior replied  
  
Carrington put the device on Junior's arm; some data came up on the screen.  
  
"Yes indeed. You are definitely Trent's son" Carrington said  
  
"Oh…" Junior replied seemingly disappointed. The truth was confirmed.   
  
"Hey, don't worry, Trent had good skills he just put them in the wrong places" Jonathan said putting his hand on Junior's shoulder.   
  
"Anyway, we better be off… got a few things to do" Sean said "Okay with you Junior?" Sean asked  
  
"I guess so" Junior said   
  
"I'm going to check on Jo again, if Sarah doesn't force me out" Velvet stood up and walked out  
  
"Alright, I'll see you later then" Jonathan waved to her.  
  
Velvet left the room.   
  
"Excellent, I've wanted a word alone with you too" Carrington said after Velvet had left the room  
  
"Why didn't you ask then?" Jonathan asked a bit caught off guard   
  
"Because I don't want the others to know what I'm going to ask you to do, nor did I want them guessing what I had spoken to you about" Carrington said. "I want you to go back to Trent's hideout, search it since according to Sean, there is nobody there, you will be able to search a bit more freely. I don't need to tell you what to search for" Carrington instructed  
  
"Why not use Velvet or Sean?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Sean is busy with Junior, Velvet is worried sick about Joanna, and I think this is more of your area anyway. You may not know this but I assign tasks to certain people based on a few stats I take" Carrington said  
  
"Of course I know this. I am undercover most of the time now" Jonathan said  
  
"Yes, but I didn't pair you off with Joanna back in Area 51 for nothing" Carrington continued "I'm talking more about how you function, how you cover each others weaknesses"   
  
"You knew though Jo and I didn't exactly get on" Jonathan replied  
  
"Of course I knew, but from what I understand it you two worked it out. Did the mission succeed? Of course it did" Carrington said  
  
"I still don't understand, Joanna is supposedly perfect, she has no weakness" Jonathan said  
  
"Just because she got perfect doesn't mean she hasn't got any weaknesses. Everybody has weaknesses, its part of being human or even a Maian or a Skedar. In reality nobody can score perfect because while Joanna is aggressive you are more passive, you both scored full marks on certain parts of the test but you were both marked differently. That's just one example, I take other examples as well" Carrington said   
  
Jonathan was very interested by what Carrington had told him, he thought everybody who went through the training was marked exactly the same way. Carrington was a very smart man; Jonathan knew he'd never really understand everything about how the Institute functioned.   
  
"So do you accept?" Carrington asked  
  
"Yes" Jonathan replied  
  
"Excellent, you shall leave around 8pm" Carrington said  
  
Jonathan nodded as he left.   
  
Jonathan decided to see Velvet and Joanna. He wasn't really worried about Joanna, but aside her slight bit of arrogance at first she was mostly a nice person. The Area 51 mission was the first mission they had worked together, things didn't start as well as they could have, but as Carrington had said they did work things out and after Jonathan was wounded slightly on the leg Joanna decided to let Jonathan use the Maian single seater to get out with Elvis and she got out of the base on her own. Ever since then Jonathan gave a lot more respect to Joanna, but he never told her and he never showed any, but she was no longer the over aggressive girl who just got lucky on the test.   
  
"Hi Jo, good to see you are alright" Jonathan said  
  
"Yes, thanks again for coming after me" Joanna replied  
  
"Returning the favour Jo" Jonathan smiled   
  
"Ha, that's true" Joanna replied "What's the matter no jokes?" Joanna frowned   
  
"It's your thick skull that saved you, all those times I told you to be quieter and you never listened, at least this time your thick skull is rewarding you instead of getting you into trouble" Jonathan said   
  
"That's better. I was about to ask where's Jonathan and what have you done with him?" Joanna replied  
  
"Seriously though Jo, are you okay?" Jonathan replied  
  
"I will be, just need a bit of time off" Joanna said  
  
"That's okay Jo, you've earned a lot more than a week off" Velvet said  
  
"Well get better soon, bye" Jonathan waved as he left the room. He really only want to just wanted to see if Jo was okay, he couldn't discuss his mission with them. He decided to get some quick practice in at the firing range, chances were he wouldn't need it but it was something to do to get his mind off the mission not that it should be dangerous.  
  
6 hours later…  
  
Time 9pm  
  
Location: Trent's former hideout  
  
Jonathan was at the same place as was 9 hours ago; he used the door decoder on the door as he knew what kind of door it was so it was much easier to get the right kind of decoder. The code was cracked in less than half a second as the door opened. Jonathan went in and drew out his Magnum and put on his night vision and looked around, nobody in sight. He crept up to the main door and opened it as everything except the front door was probably unlocked. Looking inside the dark room again there was nothing, only the dead guards on the floor. Jonathan continued and came to a door that lead him outside, he walked around. His feet came up to some on the ground, he examined it closer, it was a parachute. There was a bit of blood on it though.   
  
"Jonathan to Carrington" Jonathan said through a radio  
  
"Find anything?" Carrington asked  
  
"A parachute, with a bit of blood" Jonathan repeated what he saw  
  
"Got that new device that I showed you with Junior?" Carrington asked  
  
"Yeah, but what's it do?" Jonathan said  
  
"It simply searches for any kind of sample that can be used to identify somebody. It will then search our database for a match. Its technology that's been around for years, but it's still effective" Carrington said  
  
"Right" Jonathan replied as he put the device near the blood sample. Again within half a second it came up with a response, the name Easton, Trent was displayed.  
  
"According to this it says Trent Easton" Jonathan said  
  
"Damn it. It probably means he is still alive" Carrington replied frustrated  
  
"I'll continue searching" Jonathan said as he continued into the building again  
  
Jonathan entered the darkened building; he got this funny feeling he was being watched. All dark and quiet with nobody else around. Using the IR scanner he looked around him, but nobody was around, not even with a cloaking device.  
  
"Head to the labs Jonathan. Joanna told me there were some computers down there with information, provided they haven't been erased" Carrington instructed  
  
"Understood" Jonathan simply replied  
  
Following the more then obvious signs he worked his way down to the labs. Finding the light switch and turning it on in the labs made things a little easier as he turned off his night vision. He turned on the computer and it asked for a password.  
  
"Password computer here" Jonathan said  
  
"Use the data Uplink like always" Carrington replied  
  
"Yeah but wont that let Grimshaw know what's going on?" Jonathan asked  
  
"No, I can do his job, not as well but if worse comes to worse I'll pass it onto to him" Carrington said  
  
Why did Carrington want to be so secretive about this mission, even between his own staff? Jonathan thought as he used the data uplink and used it on the computer, Carrington got to work inside the systems and within 20 seconds the computer accepted the password. Carrington continued to search through the files and suddenly he stopped.  
  
"This is interesting. It appears there is somebody else running officially dataDyne now, they are divided into two sections, the first section is run by Andy Elcallaran, son of the Cassandra's predecessor Luke, who was killed by Terrence 8 years ago. The second half is kept secret from mostly everybody according to these records, only deals with certain groups are done and that according to this was run by Trent Easton" Carrington said  
  
"Wait…" Jonathan said as he heard movement, he looked around pointing his Magnum in various directions.   
  
"YA!" A voice shouted. Jonathan also heard somebody land behind him as they fired a gun shot but missed, the gun shot sounded really strange.  
  
Jonathan turned around and moved away and return the fire and nailed the target in the arm blowing them back with a bit of force, they were wearing black all over with a mask over their face. They dropped the weapon and Jonathan tackled to them to the ground. He removed the mask and it was a woman. She tried to push Jonathan off but Jonathan was too strong.   
  
"Let me go you bastard!" The woman shouted struggling pointlessly  
  
"Who are you!?" Jonathan demanded point his Magnum at the woman's head  
  
"I'm not going to say anything, you'll have to kill me" The woman replied  
  
"Is that so?" Jonathan replied almost amused as he pulled out another device, the woman looked at it.  
  
"This will make you tell the truth, I don't want to use it but…" Jonathan started but the woman began to choke, suddenly she titled her head tilted back and closed her eyes, Jonathan looked for a pulse, there wasn't one. She was dead.   
  
"What happened" Carrington asked  
  
"I got attacked by a woman, just as I was about to hit with the truth needle she died, poison of some sort although she didn't put anything like a suicide pill in her mouth as I kept her pinned down, but somehow she died" Jonathan said  
  
Suddenly a message was heard  
  
"This base will selfdestruct in 5 minutes, have a nice day" It said calmly as if there was nothing unusual about the base selfdestructing.  
  
"Jon just get out of there" Carrington said  
  
Jonathan didn't respond as picked up the weapon the woman was holding, he ran out of the room and closed the doors as he ran out side the building went though the base and outside the door. He kept running as about 30 seconds later the base completely blew up. In the middle of the city there was a big explosion and loads of people gathered around to see what was going on, Jonathan hid his Magnum and this other strange orange and black looking pistol like weapon as he escaped from the crowds as soon as possible. Then he noticed two familiar faces, Sean and Junior who were looking at the crowds look at the sight of the explosion. Junior looked a good deal healthier his clothes actually fit and it was as if he had eaten recently.   
  
"Jonathan?" Sean had seen him  
  
"Err… hi Sean" Jonathan replied. Sean wasn't stupid, he'd put two and two together.   
  
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow" Sean replied as if nothing had happened. He and Junior continued walking.   
  
Jonathan was glad Sean didn't discuss it or make a joke about it, then again Sean was above this and it would be very risky as there was no way of knowing who was listening. He got in his car and started it and flew above the buildings. There wasn't much traffic around as where Jonathan was driving was highly deserted, as the Institute had to be far away from everything else. He got into contact with Carrington as there wasn't anything else to do except drive the car, which could be put on auto pilot anyway.  
  
"Jonathan to Carrington" Jonathan said. He avoided using his Dark last name for fear of confusion with Joanna, despite having the same last name they were in no way related.   
  
"I read you, so nothing else happened aside this woman mysteriously dying?" Carrington asked  
  
"No…" Jonathan thought "Wait a minute, there is this weapon she used. I don't know what it is" Jonathan replied. He put in on the scanning device in the car to send data to Carrington Institute.  
  
Carrington studied the weapon on his end.  
  
"There is no record of such a weapon in our records. However it matches the information that you retrieved in which it mentions dataDyne are currently testing a new side arm pistol. According to this data, Trent Easton himself thought buying weapons through some of the marketing departments I have was stupid. To be honest I agree, effectively for about the past 6 years dataDyne have effectively given us money because they continue to buy the Falcon 2 as a sidearm. They can't use the DY357 magnum, as it's far too expensive and while powerful, it doesn't quite fit the role of a sidearm. Foster said there were rumours dataDyne was building a new pistol to outdo the Falcon 2 but we all know that they have been trying to outdo the Falcon 2 for years" Carrington finished explaining  
  
"Understood, ill be there in 20 minutes" Jonathan said  
  
"Fine, but Foster had to leave so no real progress will be made" Carrington said  
  
Jonathan turned the connection off and continued flying to the Institute. About 15 minutes later he arrived and headed to Carrington's office. Carrington was present, but it seemed as if nobody else was, even at 11pm this was very unusual.   
  
"Ah, the weapon?" Carrington asked  
  
Jonathan handed it over  
  
"Yes, very unusual design" Carrington examined the weapon "Unfortunately Foster isn't here, he had something important to do" Carrington said  
  
Meanwhile… in a town bar.  
  
"Uh!? Griiimshaw… why is the sky spinning?" Foster said drunk   
  
"Gosh! I dunno, maybe because the people are spinnin' too?" Grimshaw replied equally drunk  
  
Back at the Institute…  
  
"So there is nothing we can really do, well accurately anyway" Carrington said "You are free to go, just keep it a secret from everybody else" Carrington said  
  
"Err… well Sean already knows, he saw the explosion" Jonathan said   
  
"Damn explosion. If the US Government even remotely put together what happened they'll be chasing Trent again. When I sent one of my agents to Victoria Island she was mistaken for an enemy, she was nearly killed" Carrington grumbled "Anyway, nothing we can do about, we may discuss it some more tomorrow" Carrington said  
  
Jonathan left the Institute.  
  
Sean and Junior had entered a rather large city after Junior wanted to stay well away from the place he had lived, so after travelling for 30 minutes by car they arrived in a city known as Miraville. When Sean visited here 16 years ago it was a small town that was in the progress of getting built, now however it was an extremely large city and it was far more populated. Even though it was a bit after 11pm the city was still crowded and had lots of lights and activity.   
  
"Wow, doesn't 16 years change a lot" Sean said looking around  
  
"16 years?" Junior replied puzzled  
  
"Yeah, I was 10 then…" Sean replied  
  
"Oh" Junior said "Can we just stop for a while. I'm really tired" Junior said  
  
"Sure… that's why we are here, so we can check into a hotel until we work out what we are going to do" Sean replied  
  
"They must be really expensive, I don't want to cost you a lot of money" Junior said starting to wish he had just settled to stay in his old city just for one night.  
  
"Relax, its okay" Sean replied as they entered a hotel. He walked up to the desk but had to get the attention of the secretary.  
  
"Excuse me; do you have any available rooms?" Sean asked politely  
  
"I think so, what kind of room are you after?" She replied not really taking them seriously because of his and Junior's look, as this was a very pricy and expensive hotel. Her attitude quickly changed when Sean paid up for the most expensive hotel room there was.  
  
"Oh right this way sir" She smiled as she clicked her fingers and a hotel employee led Sean and Junior up.   
  
They went up to their room and found two rather large beds. Not to mention the large TV with over 200 channels according to the man who was very polite, a great view of the river, loads of candy, chocolate, anything, the stuff in the room went on and on. After Sean paid the man a more than generous tip he left and smiled to himself.   
  
"I've never even seen anything like this" Junior was overwhelmed   
  
"Yeah me neither" Sean replied. Finally his life of working at the Institute, being chased by Skedar and living on another planet without human contact for 8 years was finally paying off in a big way.   
  
"I'm really tired though, there will be time to get this in tomorrow won't there?" Junior asked  
  
"I should be able to. If Carrington wants me to come in we are going to have to work something out but until we get settled he shouldn't ask anything of me" Sean said, but he knew in reality Carrington was very unpredictable. While he could retire from the Institute he knew he would be bored, especially if Junior ended up at school.   
  
At that very moment his communicator was going off.  
  
"Junior why do you pick a room okay? I'll see you in a minute" Sean said   
  
Junior nodded and left. Sean went for the communicator.  
  
"Lomberson here" Sean said as he picked it up  
  
"Sean. Jonathan told me you had a run in and saw that explosion" Carrington said  
  
"Yeah, he didn't say anything, and I didn't ask" Sean replied  
  
"Well, I obviously sent him there, I wanted him to find out anything more on dataDyne's future plans and to see if Trent was alive, because the jumpship Jo escaped with detected an executive hovercopter. Only the highest officials are allowed to use it, and after Jonathan found a parachute with Trent's blood we are certain that he is alive, just don't say it out loud to Junior, I think he's taken enough. Also while Jonathan was there it wasn't him who blew up the place it was a self destruct system."   
  
"Right, so that's all you wanted to tell me?" Sean asked  
  
"Well… yes" Carrington said  
  
"Okay" Sean replied as Carrington turned his end off.  
  
Sean got the feeling Carrington was hiding something aside from Trent being alive. It wasn't a big deal him sending Jonathan back to find information but Sean suspected Carrington knew more then what he was telling Sean. Although there was nothing unusual about Carrington keeping a secret, however he wished Carrington wasn't so secretive on certain issues. Adrian his father was one of these issues, for 9 years Sean believed that his father had been killed by the Skedar, but in reality it was only a clone that was destroyed which he found out when he met his father face to face in Cassandra's office.   
  
Ignoring these thoughts he went into see Junior who was sitting on the bed. He was looking outside the window, it was obvious he was thinking about something. Sean watched for a moment but then decided to leave but in doing so Junior noticed him.  
  
"Oh I didn't notice you" Junior said  
  
"Ready for me to turn out the light?" Sean asked figured if Junior wanted to talk about something he would, Sean knew from experience it would take a good amount of time to recover, but it depended on Junior himself.  
  
"I guess so" Junior got into the bed   
  
"You let me know if you have anything to tell me you should tell me. I know from experience that this isn't an easy thing to deal with so don't act brave because it doesn't work" Sean said  
  
"Okay, thanks" Junior said.   
  
Sean went to turn out the light, fortunately the side of the hotel they were on didn't have any of the cities lights so it was pretty dark in the room, Sean went to close the door.  
  
"Sean, don't. I rather have it open" Junior said   
  
Sean only nodded, he too was tired and headed to the bedroom and took off his shoes and jacket, turned off the light went straight into bed and fell asleep.   
  
******  
  
Sorry that took so long to give you the update, and also this story is taking a long time to develop but there is a plan it shouldn't take too long. 


	6. Two seperate missions begin

Very sorry I again didn't reply to reviews last chapter how rude of me :).  
  
Spiderbear: Why do I like making characters fall? It's not to be mean, it's a really bad way of getting them to cheat death. Although I have got to come up with something else, I promise you nobody will be falling to their death for quite sometime. Of course Trent is alive, after making him fall 9 or so stories you don't think he'd be dead do you?   
  
Cristalina: Okay, chapter 4 review. I hope I reflect Suzan and Sarah well. I try to take what I can from your work on their character but correct me if I go drastically wrong (like Suzan handing out Christmas presents in July). At this stage there won't be a Jonathan/Joanna thing going on as firstly I don't write good romance (look what happened to Natasha), and secondly I don't really know where I'd take it, which is all the more reason I'll be waiting to see what you do with your fic not that I'll copy it. As for your chapter 5 review quite a few unanswered questions, yes…   
  
*****  
  
Velvet looked over to Joanna who was still asleep at 6am. Most of the time Velvet was at her own place but despite Joanna's slight protest Velvet insisted she stayed around with Joanna. Normally by this time Joanna was racing out the door, it was strange to see her sleeping peacefully. Velvet was about to leave herself when Jo woke up.  
  
"Hey Velvet" Joanna said sleepily   
  
"Hi, you promise me you'll take it easy okay?" Velvet said  
  
"Yeah I will… It is so good to be able to stay in bed" Joanna sat up for a moment "Ow, still hurts" Jo said rubbing her back  
  
"Call me if you need me" Velvet walked over to the door  
  
"Geez you nag" Joanna replied  
  
"Only because I care" Velvet said as she opened the door  
  
"Oh don't use that line, you'll make me feel guilty" Joanna frowned  
  
"One thing I beat you at hands down Jo" Velvet laughed as she left "See you later" Velvet closed the bed room door  
  
She walked outside and locked the main door. She got into her car and drove to the Institute like always. On arrival she went into the cafeteria to eat breakfast, Jonathan and Carrington were already there. They were talking quietly between themselves. Velvet decided not to interrupt but she was called over anyway.  
  
"Hi Velvet, how is Joanna?" Jonathan asked  
  
"She is okay" Velvet replied as she took some cereal that was made in two seconds as well as some coffee.  
  
"Well that's good, are you ready to talk mission?" Carrington asked  
  
"Um… okay" Velvet replied slightly caught off guard with Carrington jumping straight into a briefing.  
  
"Firstly we've found out that Andy Elcallaran is the official head of dataDyne now" Carrington said  
  
"That name sounds familiar" Velvet replied  
  
"That's because his father Luke previously ran dataDyne before Cassandra. Back then dataDyne was a far more ethical company, sure while it wasn't as high as Cassandra got it the company was still doing very well and it was only because of Skedar interference that dataDyne were allowed to gain so much money anyway" Carrington told her "Anyway Andy is running dataDyne in a very similar way to his father, but there are two sides of dataDyne, the one headed by Andy and the one headed by Trent" Carrington continued  
  
"But Trent is dead isn't he?" Velvet asked  
  
"No. We are pretty certain Trent escaped alive. I might as well tell you that Jonathan went to Trent's hideout last night to find out some information. Then we confirmed that it was very likely Trent is still alive. However do not tell anybody that Jonathan went to the hideout last night, except maybe Joanna" Carrington said  
  
"Okay" Velvet replied not asking why simply because she knew Carrington wouldn't tell her.  
  
"Obviously this has created conflict and basically one side will not recognize the other, however we suspect that this 'conflict' will be raised to the next level. Also Jonathan found a pistol that dataDyne plan to release to outdo the Falcon. Foster is well, unavailable at the moment, he said he'd be in later" Carrington said   
  
In the infirmary  
  
"Owww! My head!" Foster cried out holding his head  
  
"Stop… shouting already" Grimshaw replied  
  
"I'll stop shouting when you do" Foster said   
  
"Honestly, why do you two get drunk when you have to come in the next day?" Sarah asked  
  
"Now she's yelling" Grimshaw said  
  
"Yeah stop it" Foster said  
  
"Oh knock it off" Sarah then got a needle of some kind  
  
"Oh no you aren't sticking that…" Foster stopped mid sentence as he fell soundly asleep as Sarah put the needle into him  
  
"Arggghhh I'm getting out of here I don't like…" Grimshaw ran and got up but Sarah got him with the tranquilizer knocked him out and dragged him into a bed.   
  
"Such awful breath…" Sarah grumbled as she finished dragging Grimshaw "Well at least I'll get some peace" Sarah said as she went back to her work  
  
Back to the cafeteria  
  
"Anyway, Foster will test the weapon when he is ready. In the meantime Sean is going to meet with Andy as he is on location in Miraville. Hopefully Andy will have some information for us as he well no doubt cooperate in our attempt to remove the other side of dataDyne. As for you two I want you to go investigate that gang that attacked you both" Carrington said  
  
"But how, we don't even know where to look?" Velvet asked as she continued to eat. Carrington talked most of the time it was easy to have a meal during a briefing. Ideal for early in the morning as not many other people were here, Carrington didn't seem to mind either.   
  
"Recently gangs have been causing problems in these areas. According to the news the problems here have become more common and dangerous" Carrington told them as he showed them a map that was displayed in the middle of the table "Seems like an amazing coincidence that only now they have started causing problems with their new weapons most likely" Carrington said  
  
"I still can't understand. What would dataDyne get out of giving these weapons to gangs?" Jonathan asked  
  
"That's what I want you to find out. Surely it's more than testing these weapons as dataDyne knows how effective the dragon is. The US military bought it because of this reason. Regardless I'll leave it to you two to do the rest, and I'll contact Sean and let him know what he has to do a bit later" Carrington said  
  
"What you haven't even asked him yet?" Jonathan asked  
  
"No, I know he is staying at the Miraville Lightning Star Hotel though, lucky guy" Carrington said "Any questions about 'your' mission?" Carrington asked putting emphasis on the your.  
  
"No sir" Jonathan replied  
  
"No" Velvet said as the pair stood up  
  
"Good, prepare for the mission, you'll leave at about 11am" Carrington told them as he too got up and headed for his office.   
  
*****  
  
Sean awoke the next morning, he had to remind himself of where he was, what was going on. The TV was turned on and Junior was sitting in front of it.  
  
"Hey Sean" Junior called out  
  
"Hi sleep well?" Sean asked. The usual polite customary questions   
  
"Alright… I haven't watched TV in almost a year" Junior said   
  
"Heh. Had anything to eat?" Sean asked  
  
"Yeah, the food is nice…" Junior replied  
  
However the phone rang. Who could be calling him? Sean picked it up.  
  
"Hello?" Sean called into it… he hadn't used a phone in a long time, it felt weird. He didn't bother to turn on the video line that was now a given on phones.   
  
"Mr. Lomberson, a Mr. Carrington is on the line for you" The hotel employee said  
  
"Put him through" Sean sighed, what could Carrington want now he thought.   
  
"Hello Sean. Sorry to bother you if you were asleep" Carrington said  
  
"Oh no, I've been awake for ages" Sean lied   
  
"Yes. Anyway just calling you to tell you to turn the communicator on" Carrington laughed  
  
"Well okay" Sean replied as he hung up and turned the communicator on fearing what Carrington might have planned for him.  
  
"Great, now don't worry your assignment isn't difficult" Carrington reassured Sean  
  
"Well, I can't really go away from here" Sean replied  
  
"You don't need to, and if it's Junior you are worried about you can relax, you can take him with you as you are only meeting somebody" Carrington said  
  
"What? Who?" Sean was totally confused  
  
"Okay, firstly you are meeting Andy Elcallaran the head of the new dataDyne. I made an appointment for you to see him, and he asked why and I said to discuss matters of mutual interest. After I told him what happened with Trent he told me he knew of Junior and his mother, he also told me that he updated Trent's former wife on where Trent was. His head office is in the very city you are in, you are meeting him in an hour from now" Carrington told him  
  
"Understood" Sean replied. He walked into his room out of earshot from Junior. "Do you know why he couldn't financially support Junior and stuff?" Sean asked  
  
"Apparently because Cassandra had blocked all money transfers from dataDyne's accounts and the accounts of its employees to individual accounts unless she approved it herself. Andy says he is certain that Trent asked Cassandra to do this, and of course if Andy gave money face to face, Trent would have him hunted down for interfering in something that wasn't his business. He didn't go into great details on that so I'm willing to bet Trent and Andy have had a few confrontations in the past" Carrington said  
  
"Okay, so you just want me to talk to him and find out things?" Sean asked  
  
"Yes, although I have to admit Andy was quite naïve to tell me things that he did over the phone especially at the moment with his issues involving the two sides of dataDyne. I mean he is only 22 so is a little unexperienced in such matters, but nonetheless he is very popular within lighter side shall we call it of dataDyne. Also make sure Junior knows of Andy because Andy says that Junior knows him if not then call back and we can discuss another plan. Anyway I'm a little busy so I'll let you go, good luck" Carrington said as he turned off the communicator.   
  
Sean sat back and took in everything Carrington had told him. He wondered if Junior should come, but if Andy is a good friend then maybe it's for the best. What if though Junior doesn't know or remember him. He walked into the main room.  
  
"Hey Junior, do you know somebody called Andy Elcallaran" Sean asked  
  
"Andy? Yes, he's somebody my Mum used to see often, although I haven't seen him in a long time" Junior replied  
  
Well that fits, Sean thought. "He lives in this city, and my boss wants me to see him" Sean said "Andy told my boss he wants to meet you again as well" Sean finished  
  
"Well alright, does he know about…" Junior started but couldn't bring himself to finish  
  
"Yeah he knows" Sean said  
  
"Oh okay. He's a very good person, he helped my Mum out a lot" Junior said  
  
45 minutes later they had arrived at the dataDyne building, although on the way the thing that struck Sean the most was how much colder it was as compared to the standard temperatures on the Maian planet. This couldn't be right though, it was only 2 stories high, most of dataDyne's buildings were towering structures that could be seen from miles away, even the lesser important buildings were at least 8 stories high. Regardless they walked in and the dataDyne logo was present on the service desk.   
  
"Good morning sir, how can I help you?" The girl behind the desk greeted Sean. If Suzan greeted anybody at the Institute this way they'd either die of shock or have a heart attack. They were lucky to get a hello from her, however she did do her job very well and there weren't many people around who could fill the position Suzan had, not to mention having to cope with the stress of the job as well.  
  
"Yes I have an appointment with Mr. Elcallaran" Sean replied   
  
"Mr. Lomberson correct, yes he is expecting you second floor just straight ahead" The girl smiled as Sean and Junior left and walked up one flight of stairs and walked straight ahead down the corridor that had 4 doors on each side. Then at the end was a larger door that was open. Sean waited at the door politely. It was a rather small office compared to Cassandra's but having said that Cassandra's office looked very empty with only the desk in there. Andy's office was considerably more crowded but it seemed he was a very organised man.   
  
"Ah do come in, Lomberson I take it?" The man asked. He wore a usual business suit, shirt and tie.  
  
"Yes and Mr. Elcallaran" Sean asked  
  
"Call me Andy, I'm not much for formalities and I haven't seen you in a long time" Andy said looked at Junior  
  
"Hello Andy" Junior replied giving a slight smile that Sean had never seen before  
  
"So, how long have you been running dataDyne for?" Sean asked wanted to lead up to questions after using small talk to make Andy feel more comfortable  
  
"You don't have to beat around the bush with me, I'll tell you what you want to know on either subject although it might be wise if Junior leaves for the time being" Andy said  
  
"That okay?" Sean asked, knowing it was likely that Andy knew Junior better than he did, he hadn't even known him for 24 hours yet.   
  
"Ok" Junior replied  
  
"Go to the first door on your right from here, you'll find some stuff there" Andy told him  
  
"Thanks Andy" Junior said   
  
As Junior left the room, Andy went behind his desk and sat on a chair. Sean sat on a chair on the other side  
  
"Is Jessica really gone?" Andy asked  
  
"Jessica?" Sean asked but then got it but didn't interrupt  
  
"Junior's mother" Andy replied  
  
"Yes" Sean replied. Was she though, he only went on what Junior had told him, but he didn't want to tell Andy that.   
  
"It was coming, I knew it was, and I couldn't do anything because of Trent, even now his shadow looms over this company. Jessica and I were good friends, but nothing more, Trent saw it otherwise. It was crazy there was more than a 15 year gap between us. I first knew Junior when he was around 2 when I met Jessica in a team assignment. Even after Trent and she separated she continued to work for dataDyne. However a year later she became so ill she was unable to continue working, I continued to see her to see if she was okay and help her and Junior best I could. This went on for about 4 years until Cassandra made the order she did and of course I never appealed to her because I was afraid of her and I was certain Trent was behind it as I was giving her money so she could survive. To treat her condition she needed constant treatment, and she just couldn't afford that now her cash flow had been dramatically reduced. I needed to do something to help her, I just couldn't let a human life waste like that just because Trent was selfish. So I went and tried to see her. Before I know it, I was attacked, whether it was by the NSA or dataDyne I never knew but I was lucky to survive." Andy said, he seemed angry and frustrated and wanted to tell this to somebody for a long time.  
  
Sean sat for a moment  
  
"I'm sorry, I've said too much" Andy sighed  
  
"It's something I need to know otherwise to me it's just a like a book with half the pages missing. Not that I'm dumping this on you, but would you be happier if you had Junior yourself?" Sean asked "I'm happy to do it, but you seem to know him better" Sean didn't want to say it but he knew he had to. He knew Junior would probably be happier with him. Although after he had said it the thought that is was all a trap of some kind.  
  
Andy thought for a moment.   
  
"It's not safe for me, believe me I want to, but recently I've had a few close calls with the other side dataDyne" Andy sighed. Sean now knew he shouldn't have asked for more than one reason.  
  
"Speaking of which what do you know about the other dataDyne?" Sean asked not wanting to dwell on the more negative subject for too long.  
  
"Ha, not much I'm afraid. You guys were lucky to get them where they were, even the very marginal forces I've sent out can't find out anything of great importance. Of course I mailed to Jessica all the time of Trent's whereabouts because she wanted to know, I never asked why I just did it. I could only find out by getting somebody to hack the other dataDyne systems, which was really easy as we are dataDyne, but it's getting harder by the day as they become organised" Andy said "Of course we can still hack them but…" Andy was cut off mid sentence a loud explosion was heard at the front door.  
  
"OH SHIT!" Andy shouted out as he drew a Super Dragon from underneath his desk and pressed an alarm switch "Get Junior in here now!" Andy ordered  
  
Sean didn't argue as he went into the room Junior was in and he was already waiting at the door wondering what the loud noises were. Sean held his hand and went back in the office.  
  
"You got a weapon, or anything?" Andy asked  
  
"Yeah I do" Sean replied showing the Falcon 2 (Scope) as per usual  
  
"Good, then let's see what's going on" Andy said "Junior follow the path it will lead back to the hotel which is yours, you'll be safe" Andy said as he pressed a yet another switch which led to a secret passageway.  
  
"Why don't we leave now?" Sean asked  
  
"I can't leave my employees to die like this, you can leave if you want but I'd like it if you stayed" Andy said  
  
Sean thought for a moment, again this could all be a trap, but even so if Andy wanted Junior he would have said when he asked. There wasn't time to think logically.  
  
"Fine, but don't go down the path, they may know it's there" Sean tried to give a logical explanation to why Junior shouldn't go down the path.  
  
"Yeah you're right" Andy replied as Junior left  
  
They overlooked from the second floor. The place was a mess, the plants were knocked over the glass was blown out. Multiple unsuspecting dataDyne soldiers were looking around.   
  
"Should we go to the second floor? Trent wanted him dead, if we fail again he'll be very unhappy" One of the guards said  
  
"Yeah, we'll give his head to Trent as a present" The other guard laughed  
  
"Not if I can help it!" Andy shouted as he used the Super Dragon's grenade function killing all the guards on the entrance.   
  
They moved down the stairs.  
  
"Sean, this way" Andy said as he got out a remote and pushed yet another button opening the door to where all the employees and a few guards where hiding.   
  
"Go around and see if there are any left" Andy told him. Sean nodded as he left "Oh take Junior out of here too" Andy added "I'll catch up with you later"  
  
Sean looked around, however surprisingly there were only a few looking in the offices which were promptly nailed by his Falcon 2, however a lot of the computers were damaged or were in the process of being hacked into, although there probably wasn't enough time for the attack squad to get any information. Sean then went back up to Andy's office and pressed the same switch to open the door. Fortunately it was no trap and Junior was waiting for him.  
  
"Oh Sean" Junior hugged him as if he was really scared, which he probably was.   
  
"Is Andy… okay?" Junior asked in a panicky tone  
  
"He'll be fine, come on let's get out of here" Sean replied  
  
*****  
  
Velvet and Jonathan had got off the jumpship a good distance from the where they were supposed to be in order to blend in to the darker surroundings. Darker was quite the right word, as there was graffiti on almost every single building, rubbish everywhere, even bullet holes on some of the walls it was definitely another city that wasn't not been taken care of.   
  
"Firstly, look around, know your surroundings, although I don't need to be telling you this. Then plan your attack, at night is probably the best time but judge the situation for yourselves, Carrington out" Carrington told the pair.   
  
"Well let's look around" Jonathan said "If we can remember anything in the darkness"   
  
"Scared of the dark Jonathan?" Velvet giggled  
  
"Definitely, your sister scares me" Jonathan replied  
  
Velvet gave a slight laugh before hearing a gun shot.   
  
"It came from over there" Velvet went running  
  
"Velvet stop!" Jonathan came running after her  
  
As they continued running Jonathan saw what was going on but Velvet couldn't possibly see it at her angle. It was a discussion of some kind, Jonathan could see one of the men talking, he caught Velvet and pulled her back, he then put a finger on his lips.   
  
"You better do it or else" One of them said it was a deep male voice  
  
"Yeah, you don't want to deal with the consequences" Another voice this time a woman  
  
"Ffffffine…" A young voice stuttered. By the sound of it, it was a male who seemed rather young.   
  
"It better be fine, or that shot will be aimed just a little higher next time" The male voice said  
  
Judging by the footsteps they went to leave. Only 2 pairs of footsteps, Velvet showed Jonathan 10 fingers which meant she wanted to have a look in about 10 seconds, Jonathan nodded understanding this and giving his okay. The footsteps began to grow fainter but still only two pairs, finally when Velvet was about to look they heard the third lot of footsteps, they were heading in their direction. Velvet backed away, as she and Jonathan hid behind a large rubbish bin. After they had walked past they got a look, the third lot of footsteps must have been the younger person, he wasn't very tall and he had his head down and was muttering something aloud his voice filled with fear.  
  
"We attack together, corner him here" Jonathan said  
  
Velvet agreed as they began to make their move quietly approaching the younger person. Jonathan then made his move strangling him by the neck and threw him up against the wall where he was met with both Velvet and Jonathan standing in front of him using their arms to block his escape.   
  
"Just what was that about?" Velvet looked at the guy. There was no way this guy could be over 16, he wore mostly dark clothing and had short blonde hair  
  
"Wha… what was wha…t about" The guy stuttered   
  
"You know what I mean, with those people! What's going on!" Velvet demanded  
  
"I'm not telling you anything" The guy replied beginning to get a bit of confidence however it was short lived. Jonathan then took him by the neck and began to lift up above the ground. He kicked his legs pointlessly  
  
"You better answer her, or we will be forced to hurt you" Jonathan said  
  
"ok…. Ok… they want… just let… me down…first" He was choking because Jonathan was holding him   
  
"Jon, let him down" Velvet said  
  
"Okay, alright" Jonathan let go of his grip  
  
"They want me to blow up this factory. We are meeting tonight to get these newer weapons to do the job" the boy said   
  
"Do you know where these new weapons come from?" Velvet asked  
  
"I think they mentioned some group called data fine. Damn it, I'm saying too much" The boy frowned  
  
"Where and when are you meeting? We can find out anyway so just spare us the trouble" Jonathan said  
  
"They'll kill me if I tell anybody, I'm in enough trouble as it is" The boy was beginning to get upset  
  
"And I'll kill you if you don't" Jonathan replied  
  
"I wish I never had to do this… fine, we are meeting around the basketball courts and stuff at around 7 o'clock tonight" The boy told them  
  
"Why did you do this then?" Velvet asked  
  
"Had to, can I go now?" The boy asked  
  
Velvet and Jon exchanged glances.  
  
"Fine" Jonathan said  
  
The boy left and as he went around the corner Jonathan and Velvet started talking.  
  
"So sad. Forced to led a life like that… it's amazing you don't think anything of it" Velvet said  
  
"Nothing we can do, but at least we have a moderate chance at finding out exactly what dataDyne wants with these gangs. Also we must be ready to search elsewhere because the kid could be leading us into either nothing or a trap or he doesn't know everything" Jonathan said  
  
*****  
  
A/N: A bit long with little action, but lots of lead up. 


	7. Datadyne's new allies

Spiderbear: Yes I do know you, and if the plot is as thick as Hershey's bar before, what chocolate treat will it be at the end of two chapters, yes you heard right… two!  
  
Cristalina: Andy will learn. Yeah this kid is a bit of a wuss but you'll see… Grimshaw and Foster funny as always? Yeah, I'll try to put them in when I need a commercial break so to call it.  
  
A/N: This chapter is a little longer than my usual but there is a lot of ground I want to cover as the story while has a lot of stuff is moving too slowly for my liking. Hence why there is a two chapter update instead the usual one, I'm on holidays and I'm taking advantage of it. Also to be truthful this story is a lot more planned out that kids is… PD kids is a bunch of random and sometimes funny stuff happening, but a lot of people do kids stories and I don't want to copy anybody to a great deal so it's hard to be original and funny. Don't worry I haven't given up on it, far from it. Next update will be for kids unless you guys want otherwise.   
  
Carrington had received a phone call. It was from the President. Even Suzan didn't hesitate to put him straight through  
  
"Mr. Carrington, as you are well aware we are in negotiations with the Maians. However we have decided at this point, it may be wise not to let the whole world know. Of course the Maians are welcome here but only in secret, they have agreed to this and I was calling you to let you know" The President told Carrington  
  
"But why didn't you ask me to attend if you were making serious decisions?" Carrington said, he wanted to push for the world to find out about the Maians; too many strange things had happened already, it was only a matter of time before the truth got out.  
  
"Because this is only a temporary decision but it is unlikely to be changed, both us and the Maians have agreed to it" The president said  
  
"I still don't think its right, but it seems you've made up your mind" Carrington didn't want to push the President. He then realised the President didn't really answer his question, if it weren't for him he wouldn't even know about the Maians yet he is being cast aside in the decision for their future.  
  
"I appreciate your understanding, maybe we will discuss it another time. As I said the Maians will still be here, but in secret" The President said  
  
"Fine" Carrington replied "Just let me know next time" Carrington tried to hide his anger, he was very rarely openly angry, but when he was it wasn't pleasant.   
  
"Good bye" The president said hanging up  
  
Carrington hung up as well, what was wrong with him, Maians on Earth in secret? That was a disaster waiting to happen, where were they going to put them. Then Carrington realised that it didn't matter, if the Maians didn't like it they'd merely speak to him. The Maian negotiators said on the first day to Carrington that if they didn't like anything that the government said or did they'd speak straight to him as they knew they could trust him. What if the Maians were tricked into believing that their secrecy should remain, even after what Carrington had said to them. On the most part this did concern Carrington of what the reaction of the people would be, but Carrington had it already planned how he would deal with it, he wouldn't just reveal the existence of the Maians immediately, rather do it gradually by telling them they had made contact with other life and make it seem the process of meeting aliens had just started like it had in 1985, but Carrington wouldn't take over 35 years to get the Maians finally on Earth, probably closer to a year if that. Carrington was concerned now, what exactly had been said while he wasn't around, also there was something else that to his knowledge nobody else knew about, no Maian, no human and not even the Skedar, only him Daniel Carrington.   
  
*****  
  
Velvet and Jonathan were waiting behind a wall near the basketball courts at just before 7. Dressed in black to camouflage so it was very difficult to see them they saw at least 8 people had gathered they also recognised the kid they had cornered. He looked as nervous as ever as he talked to people who talked to him aggressively. He obviously didn't have much respect in the group.   
  
"So where is the merchandise?" One of them asked  
  
"It's coming, it's coming" One of the others replied  
  
"Hey you guys, be quiet. He is here now" A woman said. It seemed to be the same one that they heard earlier the voice was very distinctive.   
  
"Whatever Vanessa" One of the others replied  
  
"Ah hem? Don't you mean, Miss Vanessa" Vanessa said  
  
"Oh Vanessa don't be so hard on them, they won't listen to you. Anyway I've got the stuff here, now where's Damien?" The male voice asked as he brought in a crate. This was the same one as they heard from the male earlier as well. It was very easy to tell.   
  
"I, I'm here" Damien replied, this was the kid they had cornered. Velvet got a look but because of the dark clothing everybody was wearing only Damien was recognizable.   
  
"Now Vanessa, go over the plan one more time" The male voice said  
  
"If you insist, Wulf. Right, you go here, you place the mine there, and you set it off here. Make sure none of the guards see you or you'll get yourself killed or worse captured. Try not to make noise, but if you have no choice use this" Vanessa pulled a weapon out of the crate. It was the Super dragon.  
  
"F...fine" Damien stuttered again  
  
"Don't be scared, nothing is going to happen, but if it does pull the trigger on yourself if they try to capture you. Remember that to get our continual supply of all this great stuff we have to do things on a bigger scale for this dataDyne company" Vanessa said.   
  
Vanessa moved in closer to Damien and whispered something in his ear; it made him shiver with fear.   
  
"Alright, now you guys can do whatever you want... go on don't be shy" Wulf laughed as he threw the crate at the group. Using the zoom goggles Jonathan saw all the weapons that were there. K7 Avenger, that strange pistol he saw the previous day, Dragon, Devastator. The carnage they could cause with these weapons was huge.   
  
Everybody ran off in different directions except for Damien, Vanessa and Wulf.  
  
"Remember boy, don't fail" Vanessa said walking off with Wulf.   
  
After Jonathan got a closer look at Vanessa she was quite tall with long black hair and really long fingernails, they were probably fake, quite thin build as well. Wulf was a bit taller than Vanessa but he looked very strong and now that Jonathan could see better he was wearing shades, probably in an attempt to look cool like in those movies, however he actually had the appearance pull it off.   
  
"Alright Jonathan, somebody follow Damien, somebody else try to capture some of those gang members" Velvet said  
  
"I guess you want to trace Damien" Jonathan said  
  
"Well yes, but if you want to" Velvet replied  
  
"Look we do rock, scissors, paper since we can't waste time. Loser goes to fight the gang" Jonathan said.   
  
"Fine" Velvet thought it was childish but knew Jonathan was right. They made a fist and shook them three times before revealing. Velvet had scissors, Jonathan had paper.  
  
"Damn it. Okay… fine" Jonathan said taking the Crossbow and the AR34 assault rifle. He put the Crossbow in its slot on Jonathan's back. He took the AR34 in both hands and started heading in the direction of the gun fire and explosions.   
  
"Good luck" Velvet said  
  
"You too" Jonathan replied turning around and saluted Velvet.   
  
Velvet followed Damien who was walking at a careful pace, probably to try hear anybody around him although no matter how hard he could try, Velvet's training would outdo him. She didn't want to get too close but she didn't want him to get too far away from her either. Suddenly he stopped.  
  
"This must be it, the dataDyne transportation office" Damien read out from the paper also looking at the wall.   
  
Wait, the weapons were from dataDyne, why would they want to destroy themselves? Velvet thought, then it hit her, this was the opposite side of dataDyne. Damien then pulled out something and started working on the digital lock on the door however by this point Velvet had seen enough, she walked quietly up to Damien and tackled him down.  
  
"Well we meet again" Velvet said turning him around putting a Falcon 2 to his body and standing up  
  
"Shit! Why can't you just leave me alone" Damien shouted realising who it was but before Velvet replied she was under attack from gunfire, but they missing by a good margin, however they weren't aiming at her, they were aiming at Damien.   
  
"Get behind there" Velvet ordered as she and Damien jumped over another large garbage bin which seemed to be around a lot.   
  
"They are trying to kill me!" Damien said, stating the obvious.  
  
"I realised that, stay here" Velvet said as she looked over the bin and fired her Falcon 2 off, she nailed them in the arm and caused them to drop their weapon. Velvet then walked up to them and as they tried to pick it up Velvet shot them again this time in the foot, they jumped around in agony.   
  
"You stupid bitch!" The person said while in obvious pain. It was Vanessa.   
  
Velvet paid no attention to her as she pushed her down and took her K7 Avenger, but then she was under attack once more. An explosion behind her but the range was way off, a second shot was fired but it was well off to the right, the blast sound could only be a devastator but whoever it was didn't have much experience in using the weapon. However Velvet was considerably disadvantaged as she couldn't even see her attacker. She went down the alley way but found it to be a dead end. Then she got a look at the range of her attacker as the person came running closer. He fired another shot that was a lot closer as it blew up in the dead end. Then Velvet came out and fired her weapon but the target disappeared again. She waited in front of a wall while Vanessa was on the ground in considerable pain.   
  
However before she knew it she heard another shot, she rolled quickly out of the way and the grenade hit the wall and came back and was heading right for Vanessa.  
  
"NOOO!" Vanessa shouted as she saw the grenade come right for her as it exploded killing her on contact.  
  
"OHHH SHIT!" A loud shout was heard but it gave away their position. Velvet fired in the direction but didn't seem to make any contract. How could someone be so quick and where are they hiding. Velvet hung close to the walls, but her attacker fired another shot forcing her into the open. Velvet turned around and tried to catch her attacker making a move. Another shot, this time Velvet saw it coming and rolled out of the way but she dropped her K7 Avenger in the process. When she tried to pick it up, somehow a foot appeared from nowhere and was already standing on it.  
  
"Don't move, stay there" A voice said. It was the voice of that guy nicknamed Wulf.  
  
Velvet looked up and it was definitely him, he had a DY357 Magnum at her head.  
  
"You killed Vanessa, for that I can never forgive you" Wulf said  
  
"You killed her, you fired the shot" Velvet replied, not knowing what Wulf would do.  
  
Wulf then hit her across the face "Ah yes, we are going to have some fun with you tonight" Wulf laughed  
  
Wulf then went to get something from a pocket and when he pulled it out it was a tranquilizer.  
  
"Good night my dear, at least for now" Wulf said as he went to fire it but then a shot hit him in the chest, he cried out in pain before falling to his knees, Velvet stood up and pulled out her Falcon 2 then turned around to see where it came from, Damien came from out of the shadows.. Wulf could only look in shock just before Damien shot him again, this time in the head, Wulf immediately dropped to the ground dead.   
  
"I'm glad I killed him" Damien said   
  
"You're glad?" Velvet replied relieved "but why?" Velvet asked  
  
"Heh, I kind of knew they only wanted me to do this job and then get rid of me but I had no choice, I was thinking of running but I also knew they'd be watching me. I had made up my mind when Vanessa told me that if I was captured they would come after me but only to kill me. I want to take some of my life back before these other jerks kill me, I don't think it will take them long to track me down" Damien said  
  
"Don't worry, my friend is taking care of them now" Velvet replied "Where do you live; want me to take you home?" Velvet asked, she had a kind heart and always had a bit of sympathy for others who were less fortunate than her.   
  
"Nah, I'll be fine, I've got to do things for myself now" Damien said as he turned around "Oh and thanks" Damien walked off   
  
"But what will you do?" Velvet called after him  
  
"I don't know, but I'll work something out" Damien waved to Velvet and turned around the corner  
  
Jonathan was surprised at how easily these gang members went down as they didn't work together making it a lot easier, maybe he did get the better end of the deal after all. As usual they went and tried to rob the local stores of stuff but naturally they were too busy doing the job that they didn't notice Jon and his crossbow as he nailed them with the Instant kill function, but trying to keep it as quiet as possible. 6 became 4 and then 4 became 2.   
  
"Hey where'd everybody go?" One of them asked suddenly noticing it had turned very quiet without loads of gun shots and explosions nor any sirens going off.   
  
"Beats me, maybe they left early, or found another spot to raid" Another replied  
  
"let's go find…" that was all he got out as Jonathan shot him from a distance with the crossbow using the sedate function however the other was fast to react as he fired a few rounds at Jonathan who had change to his AR34 and took cover. Carelessly the guy stepped into the open where he was easy pickings for Jonathan who fired immediately killing him.   
  
"That was too easy" Jonathan walked up to the two men he just knocked out. He then got a reverse sedating effect device that would reverse the effect but still leave the target stunned making them unable to fight back and also they were less aware of their surroundings, ideal for quick interrogation. Sticking it into one of them they awoke immediately.  
  
"Where am I?" the guy asked  
  
"Err" Jonathan didn't know how to answer that so got straight to what he wanted to know "Why is dataDyne giving you weapons for?" Jonathan asked  
  
"That's easy, to cause chaos and destruction for them boss, why else?" The unsuspecting stunned guy replied  
  
"Do you know why dataDyne want chaos and destruction?" Jonathan tried not to laugh at the ease of getting information and despite the stupidness of his own question. Datadyne and destruction went hand in hand.   
  
"Nop, you haven't told us that yet" He replied "Hey wait you aren't the boss" He suddenly realised.  
  
Jonathan put a pistol to his head "No, but if you don't tell me everything in that tiny brain of yours, I'm going to give it some air" Jonathan put the DY357 to the man's head.  
  
"I wonder if this works…" the guy said  
  
"What?" Jonathan said ready for any reaction from him but then just as before the guy suddenly dropped dead for no reason at all, what was with these people.   
  
"AH Damn it! We'll never get anything out of these guys if they keep dying like that" Jonathan said  
  
"Tried removing the poison needle from inside their shoe?" A voice asked  
  
"Huh?" Jonathan turned around and saw Damien   
  
"Hey what are you doing here!?" Jonathan asked pointing the Magnum towards him. He suddenly stopped.  
  
"I'm only trying to help you know, I met with your partner" Damien said "Seriously check the inside of their shoe, the trigger is inside their shoes, if they press it a poison needle inserts a poison into the foot that kills instantly, it's another one of those dataDyne things" Damien explained   
  
Jonathan removed both shoes from the guy's feet and sure enough the right one had a needle right in the centre with 4 triggers inside the shoe at the end.  
  
"Vanessa said you have to press them in a certain combination in a certain time period to get the poison to work, just so we don't die if we touch it accidentally" Damien told him  
  
"Hey Jonathan there you are" Velvet called out  
  
"Hi Velvet, what happened?" Jonathan asked  
  
"I approached him, we were attacked, I fight the attackers but then one corners me after he kills his friend by accident just when it looks all over Damien shoots them, we talk and he walks off and finds you it seems" Velvet quickly summarised what had happened.   
  
"Right, Velvet check this out" Jonathan showed her the dead body  
  
"According to Damien, the reason why people are dropping dead and we can't get info out of them is because of this device in there that when triggered puts this poisonous needle in their foot killing them instantly" Jonathan told her  
  
"Wow, although it must be only for people extremely loyal to their cause" Velvet said "Say you wearing those kind of shoes, maybe we can have a look" Velvet suggested to Damien  
  
"Actually I'm not, I thought they'd find me out, I was scared of accidentally triggering it" Damien said  
  
"This guy should still have them though" Jonathan said taking the shoes off the other one he shot with the AR34. Jonathan peered inside.  
  
"They haven't been used, let's get back, maybe someone at the Institute can work out were they come from" Jonathan continued looking around. He never imagined he'd be looking at the inside of shoes to work out their next move.  
  
However they were suddenly attack by gun fire. The three ran for it in different directions.  
  
"Die! Traitor" Somebody shouted  
  
"Hey where'd they go?" Another asked looking around  
  
"I dunno, let's find them" The third person added as they took a step forward but it was met by gunfire, and he dropped to the ground and soon when the other two looked in shock they were hit too.  
  
"Whew that was close" Damien said putting the Super Dragon down a bit.   
  
"Heh that was nothing" Jonathan smiled  
  
"How come you are such a good shot, well compared to your former boss anyway" Velvet asked  
  
"My father and uncle are in the army, they use these all the time and my Dad wanted me to become a solider so he taught me how to use the weapon, I didn't want to go down that path though" Damien looked down  
  
"I see" Velvet said  
  
"Well anyway good luck, but can you guys do me a favour?" Damien asked  
  
"Name it" Velvet said  
  
"Leave me alone for a while, before you draw any more fire in my direction" Damien gave a smile before walking off  
  
*****  
  
It was night in Miraville, just past 8. After Sean and Junior escaped, Junior took a while to calm down, but when Andy returned he was still scared but not as worried. However Andy quickly departed to assess the damage done to dataDyne and only recently had returned to the hotel and visited Sean. He knocked on the door and Sean got up and answered it.  
  
"Hi do come in" Sean said. Andy did so  
  
"So how's the damage?" Sean asked.   
  
"Well, it's not good but it's not catastrophic, fortunately nobody was injured and the computers on the second floor are safe" Andy replied  
  
"How often have you been attacked?" Sean asked  
  
"A few times but nothing like that" Andy replied  
  
"I think you need more security" Sean said  
  
"That had occurred to me" Andy said in a half sarcastic manner "I'm learning everything the hard way" Andy sighed  
  
"By the way Sean are you alright?" Andy asked  
  
"Yes, why?" Sean replied  
  
"You just seem tired" Andy said noticing Sean's eyes where almost closing themselves.  
  
"No, I'm alright" Sean said. In truth he wasn't feeling as healthy as he usually did he had felt like this since he got back, always cold, being tired all the time, but it was no different to being on the Maian planet at first but it wore off in about 3 Earth days, since approximately 1 Maian day was 2 and a half Earth days.   
  
"Anyway, would you mind if I talked to Junior for a while. He's usually a lot happier then this, but of course his mother is getting to him. I'm surprised he's holding into himself, but of course he doesn't know you completely yet" Andy said  
  
"Well go ahead, but stay here. I don't want your friends coming around again" Sean replied  
  
"Of course" Andy stood up and went into Junior's room. Sean went to close the door; he figured they would be better if he didn't overhear what they were saying, but also wanted to keep Junior in eye contact. For some reason he just didn't completely trust Andy. Then he remembered he hadn't updated Carrington on what was happening yet. He picked up the communicator and made contact with Daniel in almost a second.   
  
"Yes Sean" Carrington answered  
  
"Sorry this is a bit late, I met with Andy, he told me stuff about Junior and how he knew were Trent was and updated Jessica who was Junior's mother, that's how come she knew and we didn't" Sean said  
  
"Excellent. What about the new weapon line, anything?" Carrington asked  
  
"Nothing, you got anything?" Sean asked  
  
"Foster tested the new pistol. Definitely a good weapon, but it's lacking a magazine only 9 rounds while it's more than the Falcon, the weapon is distinctively noisy and slightly less accurate then the Falcon, but I guess this is the idea for dataDyne to attract attention so they can overwhelm agents with numbers" Carrington told him  
  
"Strange, but whatever works for them I guess. The only other thing I found out was that Andy was able to find out dataDyne's other locations by hacking into their computers and stuff. Since they were still under the same systems and other stuff it was easy at first but the other side of dataDyne are working through that, making it harder each day. Then we were attacked and a bit of stuff was destroyed" Sean said "Andy says it's not too bad"   
  
"Oh, thanks. Keep it up, you just stay around and see if anything happens" Carrington said  
  
"Will do" Sean replied  
  
"Except come in tomorrow, just for a quick meeting, at about 8am it won't take long" Carrington said  
  
"Alright" Sean said as he turned the communicator off.  
  
Damn it, why'd he want to see me for, what was it that he couldn't tell me now. That meant either taking Junior with him or leaving him with Andy who he didn't really trust. He then realised that they were still in there, but as Sean went to the lounge room they finished and came out.  
  
"Anyway, I'll leave you now, see you around. Thanks again" Andy walked out "Oh yes, I'll be here tomorrow because people are cleaning the offices after the attack and the insurance company wants a look and stuff " Andy said as was at the door  
  
"Okay thanks see you later" Sean gave a quick wave  
  
"Bye" Andy shut the door   
  
"Sean… I'm sorry" Junior said sitting on the lounge chair  
  
Sean was surprised "For what?" Sean wondered  
  
"Putting my self on you, Andy told me he couldn't be with me although I didn't ask; I did want him around because he knew my Mum. I hold you up in your work" Junior said  
  
Sean was surprised. What exactly had Andy said, then again kids can to take things that are said in ways they are far from intended.  
  
"You don't hold me up in my work, in fact so far you've helped me because Andy probably wouldn't be telling me as much" Sean said "Also I never really lived out my teenage years because of the life that Mr. Carrington lead" Sean said  
  
"What happened?" Junior asked  
  
"Well, because Carrington had to be at work all the time I had to either stay at what was home or go to work with him. Being at home was boring as anything and I just didn't seem to be good at making friends, so I spent a lot of time at the Institute" Sean explained, trying to explain it in a way he could understand without mentioning  
  
"Also how old are you?" Junior asked  
  
"26" Sean replied  
  
"Andy asked me and I didn't know, he seemed to think you were 20 or something" Junior said  
  
"Nop 26" Sean said. Maybe he should have told Junior he was 19 to fit with his appearance and to fit in with everybody, however 26 seemed a lot older than 19 and Andy would surely question that which is probably why he asked Junior in the first place.   
  
"Okay, let's just watch TV" Junior turned on the TV  
  
"Alright, by the way I've got to go in to the Institute tomorrow so I'll probably get Andy to check on you" Sean told Junior.  
  
"Oh alright I guess" Junior replied slightly surprised  
  
"Are you sure?" Sean asked  
  
"Yeah sure that's fine" Junior said  
  
If Andy wanted to do anything to Junior he would have already, but it was either a choice of Junior being bored out of his mind and or the 0% chance that Andy had some plan in mind. He shouldn't have been so paranoid anyway. About an hour later Junior went to bed and Sean quickly followed, he was very tired now and this cold feeling just wouldn't go away, maybe if he just had some rest it would pass in the night.  
  
*****  
  
Joanna's place. Joanna was sitting watching TV with Popcorn and a drink on the table next to her while covered by a blanket on the lounge chair.   
  
"Ah some TV, popcorn and a nice drink, the simple things that are so often missing from my life" Joanna said sitting back although her back was still sore it was getting better, it was more her exhausted and worn out side that was getting treatment. She knew that Sarah only gave her more time off then she needed because she deserved it and what's more needed it.  
  
"I should thank Trent the next time I see him" Joanna laughed to herself "Oh that's right Trent is dead" Joanna said with a bit more of a laugh  
  
However outside there were 4 men moving, they stopped and looked inside and watched Joanna sit and eat.  
  
"She doesn't look like she's in that much pain" one of them said  
  
"Who cares, she's handicapped let's do this mission" Another said  
  
"Ready?" A third voice said looking inside at the unsuspecting Joanna 


	8. The darkness comes in all directions

Cristalina: Just so you know, Jonathan's treatment only lowers his speed by approximately 15%, it makes him slower than Joanna but only just. Also I knew what Joanna was doing would appeal to you. I too noticed this with Jessica but it doesn't matter as she will not be playing any further role in the story (I've given up on reviving most people from the dead haha), I just needed to give her a name, it seemed improper to call her Junior's Mum all the time. I was going to call Damien Robert but then I noticed oops… somebody already has a Robert.  
  
On with the story…  
  
The glass broke and Joanna screamed out of shock and grabbed her Falcon off the table and instinctively rolled off the lounge chair although it hurt a bit when she landed on the carpet. Suddenly Jo heard keys in the door as she kept cover behind the lounge. They wondered around the room as Jo shuffled her body around careful not to be heard but trying not to be seen either. The door opened.  
  
"ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!" Velvet screamed out and gun shots were heard, they were from a Falcon 2. Shortly after two men groaned and Jo came out from her hiding place and shot the other two.  
  
"Well hi Velvet. How was work?" Joanna asked with a smile on her face as if nothing had happened  
  
"You are nearly killed by 4 men and all you can say is how was work?" Velvet asked breathing composing herself  
  
"Well yeah. Come on they had no chance and you know it" Joanna said  
  
"I guess not. Although aren't you worried, somebody knows where you live which surely wasn't these 4 guys just wanted to steal something" Velvet was worried as she checked the guys she had shot  
  
"Velvet you worry enough for the both of us, but maybe you are right this time" Joanna sighed  
  
"Come on let's go to my place, as we should have done in the first place" Velvet said  
  
"What now?" Joanna asked "I'll miss my show"   
  
Velvet rolled her eyes   
  
"Alright, alright" Joanna said as she put the security system on which regenerated the glass and then got a robot to clean up the glass on the ground before leaving with Velvet.   
  
In the car Velvet discussed her mission with Jo, telling her that Trent was still alive and how she and Jonathan met a young boy who was part of a gang and how she then followed him later at night after he met up with his group. Then she told her about how she got into battle with this girl after she tried to kill the boy before her partner ended up killing her, but she cornered herself when the boy killed him for her. Joanna would normally want to know the ins and outs of the story as Velvet's description left a lot of unanswered questions but she was too tired to care. Joanna did get a slight bit of action that made her feel alive for about 10 seconds but it wasn't good to have too much of it.   
  
"Was Jonathan annoying as usual?" Joanna asked  
  
"Joanna, I've told you before…" Velvet started  
  
"I know, I know, I'm only teasing" Joanna laughed  
  
Velvet gave a smile; it was good to see her sister laugh.  
  
They soon arrived at Velvet's place. Joanna was a bit sleepy now and went to the room Velvet always put aside for Jo in Velvet's 3 bedroom house and Velvet was beyond tired and went into her room and both quickly fell asleep.  
  
*****  
  
The next morning.  
  
No such luck for Sean, he woke up at about 7am, he had to get ready in an half an hour and he had to see Andy, yet he was feeling even worse and had a stuffed up nose on top of it, it was some kind of cold type thing. Although hopefully Carrington wouldn't keep him too long or worse assign him to a mission.  
  
"Hey Junior let's go" Sean called out to him  
  
"Alright" Junior replied as he turned off the TV  
  
Sean went over to Andy's room and knocked on the door. He answered almost immediately.  
  
"Oh hey Sean" Andy said  
  
"Hey, I've got to go to the Institute, so can you watch Junior for me?" Sean asked  
  
"Sure, although I think you look worse then you did last night" Andy replied   
  
"Heh, he shouldn't keep me too long" Sean hoped that this was true.  
  
"Alright, take care" Andy said  
  
"See you later" Sean waved to Junior  
  
"Bye!" Junior waved back  
  
Sean got in the car and drove to the Institute; fortunately he could still concentrate reasonably well and wasn't feeling too bad in the head. He got up to Carrington's office, Joanna, Velvet and Jonathan were there sitting around Carrington's desk, uh oh, but what's Jo doing here Sean thought.  
  
"Ah Sean good morning" Carrington said  
  
"Good morning" Sean responded with a slight sniffle  
  
"Right I won't keep you long; this is just a heads up. Joanna is here because she was attacked last night. This is top secret and must be only kept between us" Carrington said  
  
Carrington leaned closer on the table closer to everybody.  
  
"I believe there is a mole in the Institute. Recently agents who have been injured have been attacked at their homes; we have lost 2 agents already. Calls went out from the phone just outside that told somebody on the other end of Joanna's address" Carrington said  
  
Sean understood why Carrington couldn't say it over the communicator.  
  
"Yes, that's all I had to say, you can go and rest up Jo. Velvet take her home would you?" Carrington asked  
  
"Certainly, come on Jo" Velvet extended her hand and Jo took it. They put on a performance that implied Jo was still in a great deal of pain.   
  
Jonathan and Sean left. Sean was about to leave until Jonathan called him over.   
  
"Hey Sean, you feeling okay?" Jonathan asked  
  
"No, but I'll be alright soon" Sean replied  
  
"Go see Sarah, she'll be able to help a bit" Jonathan suggested  
  
"You think she'll know about a planet change sickness" Sean asked  
  
"Maybe, go see her and find out" Jonathan smiled as he went into to the firing range  
  
Sean went and saw Sarah in the infirmary.  
  
"Oh you don't look well" Sarah said  
  
"Yeah, planet change sickness or something. Again" Sean sighed  
  
"I'm not surprised; the conditions on both planets are different despite their similarities. This won't make it go away completely but it will allow you to keep a clear head and so you won't feel tired all the time. It's like a cold but only a bit worse, you feel any or all of these unusually cold, stuffy nose, headaches, sore throat and quite tired?" Sarah asked  
  
"No headache or sore throat yet, but everything else is there, it's annoying" Sean replied  
  
"It will take 2 or 3 days to get over give or take, some rest may help but that's up to you" Sarah said as she gave Sean the tablet  
  
"Only one?" Sean asked  
  
"Only need one, you can take it now" Sarah replied  
  
"Okay" Sean took it "How come you know about something that only I have been hit with?" Sean asked  
  
"Elvis was hit slightly by it too but not much and it gives a totally different effect. It's not an identical treatment but after a bit of research I came up with this" Sarah said  
  
"Thanks, I'll see you" Sean left and went back to car relieved that Carrington didn't give him an assignment and then Sarah also taking him off the duty list too so Carrington wouldn't be bothering him for a few days. He knew Carrington wouldn't be happy, as he knew he had probably forgotten about the sickness in the first place. Carrington didn't seem to talk anybody as much as he usually did anymore.   
  
30 minutes later.  
  
Sean was back at the hotel; he knocked on Andy's door and took Junior back. The tablet did help a little bit but he was still far too cold and felt slightly weak. After Junior went inside his room to play some kind of game, Sean went to his room to have a bit of a rest.  
  
*****  
  
9 boring hours later  
  
Jonathan could only assist Foster in testing newer weapons out. Most of his attempts of weapons were spectacular failures; he needed to be at the Institute in case of any new developments while the shoe got passed around the Institute scanning it to all lengths in an attempt to work out who made it and where it came from. Jonathan was truly bored almost praying for Carrington to call him up as the last gun Foster got him to try out sprayed black ink on the target, the problem was it wouldn't reach past 2 meters.   
  
"Hmm, that's not supposed to happen" Foster sighed  
  
"Foster, I kinda have other testing to do, mind if I leave?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Sure go ahead, I'll work on these another time" Foster said  
  
Jonathan relieved that he could get out there left and headed for the device lab. Maybe the testing there would be slightly less tedious; he did miss testing with Natasha in which he felt progress was actually being made.   
  
"Ah Jonathan" Wendy greeted him  
  
"Hi Wendy" Jonathan replied  
  
"Daniel's looking for you, he's in his office" Wendy said  
  
"Excellent, well see you later" Jonathan left  
  
Jonathan walked back to Carrington's office.  
  
"Jonathan just so you know, I've got a mission for you" Carrington said  
  
"What's happened?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Not on that subject, it's right here" Carrington replied  
  
"Oh" Jonathan wondered what dull job Carrington had got for him now   
  
"Well, I want you to spy on a few people. Not so much spy, but observe" Carrington said  
  
Jonathan wondered what the difference was between spying on somebody and observing them  
  
"I want you to observe Tina in Hacker Central, Kathy in…" Carrington stopped "Hey someone's on the payphone right now" Carrington said tapping into the phone call.   
  
"Listen, Lomberson's been put on the off duty list for sickness. I want you to nail him, he's got Trent's boy so take him as well, you want to capture both of them NOT kill, and the boy is not to be harmed got it?" The voice said it was a woman.  
  
"Jonathan, that's definitely our mole get her she's at the payphone right now" Carrington ordered  
  
Jonathan didn't waste any time. He rushed out the room and nearly knocked Suzan over in the process.  
  
"Hey you could say EXCUSE ME!" Suzan shouted, but Jonathan ignored her as he jumped between the top level and the bottom level to cut time instead of waiting for the stupid lift, then going out the main door and catching the lift from there to the very bottom. He exited the institute and got a look at the payphone.  
  
A/N: Imagine that the door the Skedar breaks down (in mission 7.1) is the front door and the door after that is a lift. That's how I always imagined it.   
  
"She's telling them of Sean's whereabouts now, capture her if possible but kill her if you must, just don't let her go" Carrington ordered  
  
Jonathan tried to sneak up to the girl but she hung up the phone and turned around and saw Jonathan. At seeing him she drew her weapon and fired with a MagSec4 while making a retreat. Jonathan rolled out of the path as she continued to run before dropping the MagSec4. Jonathan then took a shot at her leg which connected, causing her to stop for a moment but a car pulled up in front of her and opened the door, Jonathan only had one chance left before she'd get in the car making her escape. He fired and nailed her in the head causing her to drop. Then the window opened and somebody fired at Jonathan with a K7 Avenger but he used the phone box as cover, despite the glass shattering continually, however it stopped and the car drove off as Jonathan fired multiple shots at the car but it did no good. He saw the girl's dead body.   
  
"What happened Jonathan?" Carrington asked  
  
"The girl is dead, somebody was about to pick her up, I had no choice" Jonathan said  
  
"That was Wendy's new apprentice, only came in about 5 weeks ago, 3 weeks ago this started happening, but you haven't got any time to lose, you've got to get to Sean before this squad does" Carrington ordered   
  
Jonathan headed inside to the car park while Carrington gave the details of where Sean lived as he tried to find his keys to the car, then realised his keys were upstairs.   
  
"Shit" Jonathan swore to himself as he used the lift to get back up and then ran into Carrington's office.  
  
"What are you doing here!?" Carrington asked   
  
"Getting my keys" Jonathan said as he grabbed them quickly off the table  
  
Jonathan hurried back to the car park unlocking the car and getting in and driving off. He'd be lucky to beat this group to Sean he didn't even know where they were.  
  
*****  
  
Sean was in bed sneezing every 30 seconds. Junior was worried again, but Sean reassured him that it would pass in a few days, he left and went to his own room again. However the power suddenly went out. Junior came running in.  
  
"Sean's what's going on?" Junior asked panicking  
  
"Just a power failure, nothing unusual it will be okay in a few seconds… ACHOOO!" Sean sneezed once more  
  
However suddenly there was loud crashing against the door. Sean got out of bed with a shock.  
  
"What's THAT!" Junior mumbled in shock and he held onto Sean scared.  
  
Sean didn't know but it was getting louder as the door finally gave way, but then the lights came back on.  
  
"Damn it" Somebody said  
  
Sean kept in his room and tried to hear anything more from them. Junior was holding him scared. He was about to sneeze again but he tried to hold it in. However it didn't matter they opened the door to Sean's room.  
  
"Get him!" One of them ordered  
  
"Stay back" Sean said to Junior as he took a fighting stance as he sneezed again, there was at least 4 of them, there was no way he could fight them all off in this state. Junior stood well back.  
  
One of them charged with a punch but Sean dodged it and punched back sending him into the wall, another attacked with a stomach punch which Sean grabbed and kneed him but he was feeling slightly weak and couldn't react to the third person who hit Sean hard with a punch to the cheek, before giving him another hit to the eye and then continually hit Sean until he was knocked out.   
  
"Let's get the kid first, come back for him later" They said  
  
"NOOO!" Junior screamed   
  
However it didn't do much good. Junior struggled but it was hopeless against 2 grown men. The other two watched them leave and were about to pick up Sean when had tried to get the Falcon 2 from the holding spot underneath his bed and he reached it and stood up. The two men could do nothing as a move would get them killed, but it made little difference as Sean pulled the trigger twice killing both of them. He ran in pursuit of the two men, but began to feel weak from the blows again and before he even made it to the door he collapsed.   
  
Jonathan was coming up to the hotel on foot, it was impossible finding a spot nearby and saw the two men put a struggling Junior in a car, he fired shots at them as the crowd around gasped in shock as Junior was screaming and struggling the entire way. Jonathan had hit one of the men but the other pushed him into the car and jumped in himself and the car drove off without even closing the door as it was being closed while in mid flight. He put the Magnum away and run up the stairs to where Sean's room was. However from outside the room he saw somebody by Sean's body.  
  
"Come for more have we?" Jonathan asked walking in through stepping over the knocked down door.  
  
"No! Where's the child" The man asked  
  
"Your friends just took him, don't play dumb with me, hands up" Jonathan demanded just hoping Sean wasn't dead. If only he was faster, that speed difference was really noticeable when in a real rush.   
  
The man did so standing away putting his hands up  
  
"Good, good" Jonathan said  
  
"Owwwww….. man" Sean grumbled from the floor  
  
"Sean, you okay?" Jonathan asked while keeping an eye on the man.  
  
"Jonathan, do I look okay to you!" Sean asked  
  
"Sean, thank goodness I thought they had killed you" The man said  
  
"No, I'm alive … ACHOO!" Sean sneezed again as he lay on the floor. There was a bit of blood around him.  
  
"You know him Sean?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Yeah… that's Andy from the other side of dataDyne" Sean said not even looking up from the floor.  
  
"Oh sorry about that, I'm Jonathan Dark, from the Carrington Institute" Jonathan said  
  
"Ah, did you see Junior?" Andy asked  
  
"Yeah, they put him in a car and got away" Jonathan replied  
  
"Damn it. Jonathan could you get an ambulance or something" Andy asked  
  
"I've got a better idea, I'll bring my car to the window and we can take him direct to the Institute, I'll be quick" Jonathan headed off  
  
"Isn't parking next to a window illegal?" Andy asked  
  
"Of course it is, your point?" Jonathan asked when he left.   
  
When Jonathan was gone Sean tried to gather strength and stand.  
  
"Sean, don't… just stay there until Jonathan comes back" Andy said  
  
But Sean ignored him standing up. Andy could only cover his mouth in shock as he looked at Sean's face. A mark on the forehead was bleeding and running down his face, he had a deep mark across from his eye down the side of his face. Sean saw Andy's reaction and dragged himself over to a mirror to look.   
  
"They did a damned good job" Sean looked into the mirror   
  
"You should cover that up, so it doesn't get any worse" Andy said as he went to the bathroom and found some bandages. He bandaged his head around the mark, and put some over his right eye.  
  
"It will do for now, at least until you get to the Institute" Andy looked behind him as Jonathan pulled up.  
  
"Come on let's go" Jonathan called out as he opened the door as Andy opened the window. Jonathan helped Sean into the backseat of the car and Andy got in with him.   
  
Jonathan drove as fast as he could without shaking the back seat around too much, and got to the Institute in 20 minutes. On arrival the two took Sean straight to the infirmary.   
  
"Oh my goodness, what happened?" Sarah asked looking at Sean  
  
"Need you ask?" Jonathan replied  
  
Sarah got to work removing the temporary bandages and put him on a bed.   
  
"I'll need you both to leave, you can come in later" Sarah told them politely.   
  
Carrington heard the fast moving footsteps and rushed down to meet Jonathan and Andy waiting outside the infirmary.  
  
"how is he?" Carrington asked  
  
"Injured but not drastically" Jonathan said  
  
"And Junior?" Carrington asked  
  
"They got him… I couldn't do anything" Jonathan continued  
  
"Damn it, who knows what Trent will do with him" Carrington said  
  
"What do you mean, why did Trent want Junior in the first place?" Andy asked  
  
"He definitely didn't want to be with his boy to spend quality time" Carrington said  
  
"What then… what could it possibly be?" Andy asked  
  
"Well I don't know" Carrington said coldly. Jonathan knew Carrington better then that, even if he didn't know he'd give an opinion of what it might be, maybe he just didn't have an opinion.   
  
The three went into the cafeteria and just sat quietly, they knew Sean would survive but how bad would his injuries be.   
  
"So, you are Andy of dataDyne correct?" Carrington asked  
  
"Yes" Andy replied shortly as he was in thought.   
  
About 15 minutes later, Sarah entered.  
  
"Just some minor injuries, he shouldn't take too long to be heal though" Sarah said  
  
"Thank goodness for that" Carrington said as he went over to the infirmary, Jonathan and Andy followed.  
  
"I'd just like a quick word alone first" Carrington told them  
  
"Well okay" Jonathan said as Carrington went in, what could he say to him, Carrington was his boss.   
  
Carrington walked in.  
  
"Well, it's good to see you are alright, I thought I had both Agent Dark and you out of action for this week and that wouldn't be good would it" Carrington said  
  
"No" Sean replied.   
  
"Now, don't you get any ideas about going after Junior yourself" Carrington told him sternly  
  
"What? What are you going to do then" Sean asked  
  
"Nothing" Carrington replied "Just wait, until the time comes and then I'll send Jo and Velvet in"  
  
"Nothing? And then send Jo and Velvet in 6 days? They are more than efficient enough and I trust them but this is something I should do, and it may be too late by then" Sean said as he sneezed away from Carrington  
  
"Out of the question, it's not like he's your son or anything" Carrington said in a real cold tone.   
  
"Maybe not, but he's got nothing else, Andy is constantly targeted by the other side. Who knows what alien technology Trent has… he could" Sean started  
  
"That is enough! You may be able to get away with disrespecting a Maian's judgement, but it will not happen with me!" Carrington started to raise his voice  
  
Sean was surprised, he had never seen Carrington react that way before, he was merely giving his opinion.  
  
"You DIDN'T answer me don't you care? What if I were captured when I was his age, you surely wouldn't leave me to die would you?" Sean asked. Something wasn't right, Carrington seemed very different. He was treating him like a kid that was disrespectful, Sean resented that because he wasn't a kid and certainly was never disrespectful to anybody who was to be given respect.  
  
"What's happened to you!? I think those Maians have given you a sniff of too much power!" Carrington was shouting now.   
  
"I THINK the question is WHAT has happened to you! First thing you said to me, you didn't want Joanna and me both out of action! You care more about the work rather than the people that work for you, you don't care what happens to Junior, you don't even ask if there were any civilian deaths anymore which you used to do all the time. I've had enough of this!" Sean finished shouting at Carrington and got up, screw respect, it has got to work both ways.  
  
"Where the hell do you think you're going!" Carrington demanded  
  
"Why do you care? Oh yes, you only want me for my ability now. This isn't the guy who took me and raised me after a certain Skedar came around, you have turned into somebody else a monster, I've had enough of your crap, I could have resigned before and I am now!" Sean matched Carrington's tone before almost shoving him out of the way. Carrington stood there, shocked at Sean's reaction as he shoved the door open to leave, ignoring the pain of his injuries, the way Carrington treated him like a child who couldn't think for themselves hurt him worse.   
  
"Hey what's going on?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Go ask him in there, or maybe not, he may start working on poisoning your mind too" Sean replied not even looking at Jonathan as he went to leave.  
  
"What was that about?" Andy asked  
  
"I have no idea, I have never heard Daniel or Sean talk like that" Jonathan replied as Sarah, Jonathan and Andy had heard the entire conversation through the communicator Sarah left on her desk. Daniel quickly followed as Sarah hid the communicator.  
  
"Well, I guess we are one man down now. I wish him luck, he is going to need it" Carrington said as he went back for his office.  
  
Jonathan knew there was more to this story then what was revealed. Sarah followed Carrington to his office to tell him about something she needed, she knew it wasn't a good time but she had a second purpose. She walked in to Carrington's office.   
  
"What do you want?!" Carrington demanded  
  
"Oh, I wanted you to sign this form" Sarah said showing him a form  
  
"Leave it there, I'm busy" Carrington said  
  
Sarah left the paper there and placed a communicator under Carrington's desk as she did so.  
  
"Can you leave now?" Carrington demanded  
  
"Yes sir" Sarah walked out,   
  
Sarah smiled to herself as she met Jonathan outside.  
  
It didn't take long.  
  
Carrington sighed deeply…  
  
"Maybe Sean is right. I'm stilling trying to protect the kid, wait he's even not a kid anymore he's 26 years old. Even Sarah I just shouted at her for no reason, which just proves his point even more. Then there was that girl who was killed because she was a mole and I don't even know her name. Sean's right… why don't I care. This is all because these damned negotiations, if the President would just listen to me, instead of ignoring me and leaving me out all the time" Carrington was pacing around the room as footsteps accompanied him talking to himself  
  
"Wow I thought we would have to wait until a phone call or something" Jonathan said  
  
"Nah, you'd be surprised at some of the things I hear from him" Sarah gave a smile  
  
"I don't get it, this is not like either of them to lose it with anybody, let alone each other" Jonathan said  
  
"Well it's definitely not like Daniel and I don't know Sean well enough but I take your word for it" Sarah said   
  
"There has to be more to this" Jonathan said  
  
"Ah he's just left his office" Sarah sighed  
  
"Nothing we can do now, I better go, goodnight" Jonathan waved  
  
"Good night" Sarah replied  
  
*****  
  
Sean realised now that he had left the car at the hotel still. He had to rely on the public transport or something. He thought about what he had said to Carrington,   
  
"Hey Sean, I knew you'd need a ride" It was Andy…  
  
"Thanks Andy, but how'd you get your car here?" Sean asked  
  
"Remote car, one of the dataDyne's newest inventions, didn't I tell you about it. I can carry it in the palm of my hand or my pocket until it's needed" Andy said "You just don't want it to be stolen" Andy gave a laugh  
  
"Heh, very funny" Sean replied deep in thought   
  
"Hey don't worry, I know you'll find Junior quickly" Andy said  
  
"No it's not only that, I just don't understand Daniel anymore. He used to be such a caring guy, I just don't get it. I mean if he had said he didn't want me to do the mission due to him thinking I may hesitate at the wrong time and stuff I'd understand, but it was a different reason all together" Sean replied then sneezed again  
  
"Trent still dealing with aliens huh, and I trust you weren't referring to the civilization of the Mayans when you mentioned it" Andy said   
  
"…how much do you know?" Sean asked  
  
"Only that dataDyne has alien technology in some of its inventions, I don't know how or why though" Andy said  
  
"Okay fine, I refer to the Maians, spelt with an i instead of y but pronounced the same way. As you may have guessed they are alien life form, I spent 8 years away from Earth with them very recently. Datadyne dealt with a group known as the Skedar, the Maians and the Skedar were in constant war with each other. Sorry, but I'm kinda not feeling like explaining this all right now" Sean said  
  
"That's alright, I don't need to know, it's not really my business" Andy replied  
  
"If you work for dataDyne it should be your business… it may soon become that way" Sean looked away and outside the window  
  
A/N: Yes it gets very interesting now. Was Carrington out of character? Perhaps. Oh and Chistalina I used Sarah to sneak into Carrington's office because I knew that Carrington would never suspect her. 


	9. Keep friends close Your enemies closer

Spiderbear: Yup, Carrington lost it. Don't worry Jo will be back soon.  
  
Cristalina: Of course it's uncommon for either one of them to be angry, and of course he's out of character because he never showed much anger, and everybody should show anger, it's unnatural otherwise as you said. We'll definitely see some dark side stuff here, especially from Sean obviously. What I said about the Mayans is true they are a civilization. It's actually Maians that has bad spelling (or is this what you were saying, I wasn't quite sure). Obviously deliberate, although the Mayans we know don't really have any connection or similarity to the Maians that I can think of. I thought that about Sarah as well, she's the one that nobody would suspect of doing anything like that.  
  
A/N: This chapter is a Sean chapter a quite a long one at that even for me. The next one will be a Jonathan/Velvet chapter, it's much easier (and consistent) to do it this way rather than switch between two characters all the time. The stories will eventually meet paths and then it will merge into one again, but I had considered creating another story based on Sean, but as he's an original character and Sean's parts will be filled with other original characters but of course it is still based off the characters we know and love. Very few of the original characters will be in the plot for a long amount of time. Also Jonathan's and Velvet's and soon to be Joanna's parts have a fair few OC's too and I only give them names so they don't remain nameless for the time they are in the fic (Wulf, Vanessa, Jessica). Not all of them are original characters though. A perfect example of this is Wendy, she's not an original character she's the woman in the device lab but I wanted her to have a name.   
  
*****  
  
By the time the next morning came Sean was feeling a good deal better but still it seemed cold but wasn't sneezing and the pain from his scar on his eye hurt a lot, his other injuries weren't as bad, but they did a really good job on his face. He was back at in his hotel after Andy had driven him back. Looking in the mirror and having a good look this time Sean looked at the deep scar across the right side of his face, his eyes also looked really bad. Yellow all inside them instead of where the white usually was, it was like a really bright yellow. Now Sean remembered, that was part of the long term planet change sickness it didn't matter as much around Maians but around Humans it would matter a lot more.   
  
"Time will heal that" Andy was already present, he surprised Sean.  
  
"Yeah I know" Sean replied  
  
"It's going to take a while, but how are you feeling, for whatever you've got?" Andy asked  
  
"Good deal better, no sneezing as you are noticing. It's an unusual thing that happens to me when I am exposed to a different environment" Sean told Andy  
  
"Different environment? Where have you been?" Andy asked  
  
"Err…" Sean couldn't think straight, what could he say…  
  
"Another planet perhaps, 8 years? That Maian one?" Andy said as if he knew  
  
"How'd you know that?" Sean asked  
  
"Jonathan told me, he called to find out about you" Andy said "I kinda knew already, we had sketchy information that the Institute had sent an agent into space for a long time but no proof"   
  
"I see… so don't you have an office to take care of?" Sean asked  
  
"I am, but I want to help you find Junior, surely you aren't going to get far alone, and the Institute surely isn't going to help. If anything they may hinder you" Andy told him  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Sean asked surprised  
  
"Again, Jonathan told me. Carrington had assigned him to track you down, and stop you but of course not kill you, but Jonathan immediately refused the assignment and so did another girl I haven't heard of, V something" Andy thought about the name  
  
"Velvet?" Sean asked  
  
"That's her, anyway Carrington respected their choice as you are friends of both of them, but expect interference from all sides if you are going ahead with this" Andy said   
  
"So be it, so how can you help me?" Sean went over to get something to eat. He knew he wouldn't get far without help from either the Carrington Institute or Andy's side of dataDyne, and at the moment only the latter would be helping him.  
  
"Easy, as if by coincidence our spy has come across Trent Easton. However not face to face. Apparently Trent is using another name that he uses to own things, he's known as Peter Macolyan. At this very moment we find that Trent owns a private motorboat. It's rather large, it's called the Kalakent MTO and is currently based in Miami" Andy said  
  
"Well, I'm going to go there now. Thanks a bunch" Sean said as he ate  
  
"What now?" Andy asked  
  
"Yup, well almost" Sean as he ate   
  
"Well if you say so, I'll get somebody to drive you there, so be ready in an hour" Andy sighed as he left  
  
Sean knew that if was recognized by any of Trent's people that would raise the alarm even before his mission had started, so a new look was required at least the best he could do in 45 minutes. Going for a bit of quick shopping. Changing his hair colour to blonde as opposed to his dark black hair as well as getting it cut to be shorter and without that small fringe at the front, not that he didn't like his original hair colour but it had to be done, especially because it was so easy to change thanks to new technology that wasn't around 8 years ago. Also he now had a black coat with the standard black pants and black sneakers and yup you guessed it a black t-shirt. He wasn't the type to be really wearing dark all over like in those gangs Jonathan talked about, but that was the point, now he needed something to cover those awful eyes of his. Ah, those shades. Sean smiled to himself, only on real close detection would anybody recognise him. A knock at the door and Sean answered.  
  
"What? Who are you?" Andy asked  
  
"I guess it works then" Sean replied  
  
"Huh what works? Oh right Sean. Err no offence, but that look is not really you is it" Andy said  
  
"Nop, that's the damned point" Sean replied "And these eyes look freaky, glow in the dark kind of things"  
  
"Ahhhh, nice plan…" Andy nodded in acknowledgement "Your driver is ready for you. Wait a tick, I have something you may want if you don't want people to recognise you" Andy went through a briefcase and handed Sean a small device  
  
"It changes the level of your voice, to how you want" Andy explained  
  
"That's great. Thanks a bunch, I should go now" Sean turned around and walked   
  
"Okay, just be careful" Andy said as Sean walked down to the bottom of the hotel, checked out and then got into the car.   
  
*****  
  
Carrington institute  
  
Carrington had gone around and tried to assign some agents onto the mission of stopping Sean and bringing him back so he could talk to him but nobody would touch it, he suspected Jonathan had spread word of Sean's ability even making up some if it, but he couldn't prove it. Then a thought just crossed his mind, in the device lab they were working on a robot who could be an agent, nothing would replace the real thing but still it may be his only option if he wants to stop Sean. Carrington headed over to the device lab, nobody was giving him eye contact. He wasn't certain if Jonathan had spread the rumour about Sean, but knew Suzan like always spread the gossip on Sean and Carrington having it out after she found out from Foster who found out from Grimshaw, who found out from Wendy, who found out from Sarah, who Carrington thought found out from Jonathan.   
  
"Good morning sir" Wendy said trying to be polite as Carrington walked into the device lab.  
  
"With that robot, is it ready or what's its progress?" Carrington asked calmly and politely  
  
"It is ready, just starting the second model now Why sir?" Wendy asked  
  
"I need it do an assignment" Carrington said  
  
"Are you sure you want to depend on it like that? I mean I'm honoured you trust me but…" Wendy started   
  
"Well I won't deny it but I am only using this robot to do an assignment that nobody else will touch, and for good reason" Carrington said  
  
"Dangerous?" Wendy asked  
  
"No, just difficult" Carrington not wanting to get into detail  
  
"Well, just program the assignment in like you requested and it shall try complete it" Wendy said  
  
"Thanks a lot Wen" Carrington gave a smile  
  
"My pleasure" Wendy replied, relieved that Carrington was back to normal for now.  
  
Carrington begun to switch the machine on after taking it to his office, he knew how it worked as he requested a certain design. It was a red robot that looked like a human as in two legs, arms, ears, face etc. but it was metal and it was obvious that it had weapons concealed.  
  
"Hello, I am the CI001 Alpha Robot. Please program the assignment" The CI001 Alpha told Carrington  
  
Carrington did so as he typed it on a keyboard "Find Sean Lomberson, bring him here, do not injure badly or kill, expect resistance, start immediately" Carrington typed in  
  
"Processing" CI001 Alpha's motionless reply was  
  
"Received and understood" CI001 Alpha replied "dataDyne is evil!" CI001 Alpha said  
  
Carrington gave a smile, he personally got it to say that when finished programming an assignment. The robot left the room on its two wheels underneath both of its feet, when in combat it would use its actual legs but it could move faster using the wheels, also it had jets to fly around for fast but little controlled movement. Carrington wasn't quite sure what the robot was capable of, so wasn't expecting to see Sean anytime soon.  
  
*****  
  
Miami. Time 12.30pm  
  
Sean thanked the guy who drove him and he drove off again.  
  
"So this is Miami huh" Sean looked around the city. He knew where he could definitely get a location of where the ship was…   
  
"I'm looking to speak to Juan Retolya" Sean told the person on the other end, he just hoped that the person he knew still worked at the bar/people that looked over the waters and hired boats out.  
  
"Yeah you're speaking to him" Juan replied, uncaringly  
  
"Juan? You've changed, it's Sean Lomberson" Sean said, Juan was a reasonable height, slightly shorter than Sean, white skin but it was rather tanned and dark, black hair slightly messed up and very casual. When Sean knew him at school he never relaxed and was constantly worrying about something. He was one of the very few people at school who even wanted anything to do with Sean.   
  
"What? It couldn't be, you look nothing like him" Juan looked at him in surprise  
  
"Who still owes me 120 dollars and 50 cents?" Sean asked jokingly  
  
"Shit! Sean, it is you! What did you do to yourself! Why this dark look now" Juan asked being a lot more friendly  
  
"Heh, trying to avoid people who know me. Just like you I imagine" Sean smiled  
  
"Well not anymore, but what can I do for you?" Juan asked   
  
"I'm looking for a ship; can you give me an exact location?" Sean asked  
  
"In a sec bro" Juan replied "what's the name?" Juan asked  
  
"Kalakent MTO, you seem to have changed a lot" Sean said  
  
"Me? Yeah, I decided to stay here after all it's a lot easier here too. Those scars and bruises though, how'd you get them thought you could fight?" Juan asked  
  
"It's a long story, but let's say that encouraged the look" Sean said  
  
"Ah, anyway, your ship is located right here" Juan said pointing to an electronic map  
  
"That thing constantly updates?" Sean asked  
  
"Yup, that's exactly where it is" Juan told him  
  
"Great, thanks. Can I ask you a favour?" Sean asked  
  
"Go for it, I still owe you 120 bucks" Juan laughed  
  
"Yeah, okay. I need to get on the ship, get me close enough so I can get on without them noticing, can you do this?" Sean asked  
  
"Definitely, I only saw these guys on that ship once, completely wrecked the place here when they were drunk. Took 6 of us to get them outta here" Juan sighed "So I'll be glad to do that for ya" Juan said  
  
"Great" Sean replied  
  
"By the way, what do you do with your life now? Like what do you do for a living?" Juan asked  
  
Sean thought for a moment.  
  
"Mercenary is the best term, but it could also be classed as a spy, but neither is quite accurate, " Sean said "Kinda in the middle" Sean said telling half of the truth  
  
"Well whatever, be back here in 15" Juan left the bar to get ready  
  
*****  
  
About 30 minutes later  
  
Juan had gotten Sean and himself out near the Karakent MTO. Juan's ship was a small motorboat that cloaked itself to the human eye sight and radar, but the cloak would only last 2 minutes, but that was more than enough to get the small ship into range of the large luxury yacht. They were underneath the ship and turned off the device and talked quietly.   
  
"Where'd you get this kind of ship?" Sean asked  
  
"Well this group of punks that came in a few weeks back left this cloaking like device after a fight, I tweaked with the device a bit and got it to work on this small ship" Juan replied  
  
"Since when were you good mechanically?" Sean asked him   
  
"Since I spent 6 years studying" Juan said  
  
"Alright I'll keep in touch through the radio, if I need you can you be here?" Sean asked  
  
"No prob, good luck" Juan said  
  
Sean got out a rope and swung it around the railing of the ship, using the pull device on the ordinary looking rope it immediately placed Sean at the railing where he could look and see if there was anybody around. Nobody. Sean sneaked onto the ship and heard footsteps, as they got closer Sean looked for his Falcon 2, finding it he attached the silencer as the person walked past he knocked them out. Looking further on he decided to go into the ship, opening the glass doors he looked around the room. Two candles, champagne, two silver plates. Lunch on a boat with a nice view of the water, how romantic, Sean thought. Exploring the ship further taking out another guard he started looking inside the rooms, although there was nobody inside, but there was one that had a door guard holding a CMP150. He didn't want to kill unless it was absolutely necessary so a distraction was required. So he went back to the last guard he knocked out and threw him into a bathroom and took his weapon and fired it before running around the direct passage the guard he wanted to divert would take. Running out of the bathroom he crossed another room and exited and went back to the door he wanted to get into, the guard was gone, his plan had worked. He opened it, it was unlocked.   
  
"What who are you!?" A woman in a white dressing gown was sitting on the bed, she had long black hair.  
  
"Shhh!" Sean put his hand to his lip and got closer to her  
  
"Don't touch me or I'll scream" She warned  
  
"I won't touch you, just tell me… who owns this ship?" Sean asked  
  
"My boyfriend Peter" She replied  
  
"Peter who?" Sean rolled his eyes  
  
"Peter Macolyan" She said  
  
"Is he on board now?" Sean asked  
  
"No" She said   
  
Just then there were 3 knocks at the door.  
  
"Answer it" Sean ordered her  
  
"What?" She replied surprised  
  
"I told you, answer it!" Sean pointed the Falcon at her  
  
She did as she was told as Sean stood behind the door as she opened it enough for her to see who it was but also so Sean could stand behind it and still see her.   
  
"Fiona, you okay?" the voice was a man  
  
"I'm fine, just go away" She replied  
  
"Well I'm just telling you there is an intruder on the ship, and I'll be back for some dessert shall we say later darling" He said, there was a slapping sound, followed by a slight groan from the man.   
  
"Look just piss off" Fiona said firmly  
  
"Okay, just lock your door alright?" He said  
  
"Whatever" Fiona said coldly closing the door and locking the door as she closed it  
  
Sean heard the footsteps die down.  
  
"Where is your boyfriend?" Sean asked  
  
"Why?" She asked   
  
"None of your business, where is he?" Sean asked more firmly this time  
  
"He's at the Lierarcle hotel and casino, he owns that too" She said  
  
Sean nodded walking quietly out of the room  
  
Pulling out his radio he quietly got into contact with Juan.  
  
"Juan, be a bit quieter, come back where you left me okay?" Sean whispered careful not to attract any attention.   
  
"Sure" Juan replied  
  
Sean quietly went through the ship again trying to avoid being detected as the guards were running around trying to find him, and in 10 minutes Juan and Sean were at the agreed spot as Sean jumped in to the bottom from above.   
  
"Hey nice move, I saw a few of them running around. You must be a professional or something, but what exactly did you do?" Juan asked  
  
"Got some info, nothing more" Sean replied  
  
"Well alright, I guess it's none of my business anyway" Juan turned the ship around again  
  
As Sean and Juan landed on the beach they saw a strange red robot.  
  
"Target acquired, battle mode engaged" The robot said   
  
"What?" Juan said  
  
"Just stay clear" Sean advised  
  
Juan did as he was told, the robot came charging at Sean with a high attack, but Sean was able to trip it up with a low sweeping movement causing it to crash into the sand. He followed up by jumping on top of it.  
  
"CI001 Alpha does not like pain, there is no escape Lomberson" The robot said  
  
"WHAT!? CI001 Alpha, that could only be from…" Sean stopped his attack but the robot surrounded it's with an electrical field knocking Sean off it.   
  
"Right, now you've pissed me off Danny" Sean stood up and charged at the robot and kicked it hard in the head with a flying kick sending it into the water.  
  
"Noo, malfunction in water" The Robot said kicking and flailing around "Must destroy dataDyne, must destroy…" The robot's voice was beginning to weaken and eventually it collapsed  
  
Sean walked over to the robot and Juan looked at it.  
  
"You must be really good if people are sending robots after you and you are kicking them down" Juan said in admiration  
  
"Yeah thanks… hey you said you were a bit technical right, can you reprogram this thing?" Sean asked  
  
"Sure, what do you want it to do, make it spin around on its head? Sing stupid songs? Tell jokes? All of the above?" Juan laughed  
  
"How about…" Sean gave a smile  
  
Carrington institute  
  
A few hours later CI001 Alpha had arrived back at the Institute. It headed directly into Carrington's office. Suzan was there handing him some paper work  
  
"Ah Alpha, how did you go on your mission of finding Sean?" Carrington asked  
  
"Put your right foot in…" CI001 Alpha started singing  
  
"What!?" Carrington said in surprise. Suzan tried not to laugh  
  
"Put your right foot out…" CI001 continued  
  
"What are you saying" Carrington looked at it sing, Suzan started giggling  
  
"Put your right foot in and then shake it all about. You do the hokey-pokey and you turn around and that's what's all about" CI001Alpha finished its song and dance and Suzan was uncontrollably laughing  
  
  
  
Alpha continued the dance and Carrington banged his desk in frustration.  
  
"Come on it's not that funny Suzan" Carrington said as she was still laughing  
  
"Oh I'm sorry sir" Suzan said trying to regain her composure  
  
"You put your left foot in…" Alpha continued and Suzan went back to her laughing again as she left the office  
  
"Sean must have reprogrammed the thing! Damn it!" Carrington said  
  
"You put your left foot out…" Alpha kept singing  
  
"Oh SHUT UP!" Carrington shouted walking up slamming the secret off switch on the robot. He then walked out of the office taking the switched off robot back to the device lab.  
  
"Ah successful in its mission?" Wendy asked  
  
"Well no…" Carrington said. He then begun to realise the funny side, in all of this as he switched it back on. It started dancing again but instead of the hokey-pokey it started to play hopscotch while singing this song.  
  
"Sean kicked my ass, so he sent me back to you just so I could do the hokey-pokey for you, now that I'm back here you can't reprogram me back so I think it's time I just crashed that stack" Alpha made a stupid rap that didn't even really sound that great but it went and ran into the second robots parts before blowing itself up into pieces.  
  
"What!? You sent this thing to get Sean back? It had no chance, I could have told you that" Wendy said "Now it's gone and scattered my work on its successor too" Wendy groaned  
  
"Well, nobody else would take the assignment understandably" Carrington said  
  
"You are just going to have to leave him to his own, I can try, but to get one with enough intelligence and strength to defeat him will not be easy, not easy at all" Wendy told him  
  
"Can you make two to attack at the same time?" Carrington asked  
  
"Yup. Be ready in about a day since I know what I'm doing now, although I wouldn't expect this to work. It's going to take time for me to be able to give them enough intelligence but enough strength to start even defeating the lower agents we have" Wendy said  
  
"Although they are fairly good at what they do. Maybe we should test against them first" Carrington suggested  
  
"Might be an idea, although they are simply not in the same class as Joanna, Jonathan, Velvet and of course your target Sean" Wendy said  
  
"Alright, I'll have to think this over for a while…thanks for your help" Carrington said as he left the device lab  
  
*****  
  
Miami, Juan's bar, the Amélan shadow. 4pm.   
  
Inside the back of the bar Juan and Sean were talking about what happened. One of the lower staff was taking care of the bar.   
  
"So what info did you find or is it top secret or something?" Juan asked  
  
"Actually I could do with your help. The Lierarcle hotel where is it?" Sean asked  
  
"Oh them, they are right there" Juan pointed out into the city, where a big flashing Lierarcle sign was.  
  
"How could I have missed that!?" Sean hit his head with his hand   
  
"Don't worry about it, you have no idea how many people come in here and ask me that question" Juan replied   
  
"Well, obviously that's next. Apparently the guy I'm looking for is there, although I don't know how reliable all my sources are" Sean said  
  
"Alright, want me to be around or not?" Juan asked  
  
"May help, you know the area?" Sean asked  
  
"Yeah of course" Juan said   
  
"Well let's pretend we have a lot of money…we'll get further that way" Sean said  
  
"One problem, we don't have the money, you overestimate how much I make here" Juan said  
  
"You may not have the money, but I do" Sean replied  
  
"Rich? Strong? Agile? What more could you want out of life?" Juan asked giving another laugh  
  
"How about life its self, about 15 years of it" Sean replied  
  
"What's that?" Juan asked puzzled  
  
"Never mind, anyway we'll go in there at about 7. Make sure you dress the part" Sean said throwing Juan about 10,000.  
  
"Heh, not my thing, but obviously you are right, and since you are giving me money to burn, I'll do it" Juan said  
  
At about 7, both Sean and Juan were in the typical black tuxedos that you always see in those casino like scenes and of course Sean had those shades on to cover those strange looking eyes, wondering how long it would take for them to go back to the way they were, he was getting stares from a few people and attention isn't something he wanted, but it was better then having glow in the dark like eyes which would result in stares anyway.  
  
"Heh, I look something from a movie" Juan gave a smile. He had neatened up his hair a lot so it was straight rather than all over the place like before.   
  
"Let's have a look around" Sean suggested  
  
"Well whatever, but why do you wear those sunnies all the time?" Juan asked  
  
"I'll show you another time, now isn't the place to show you" Sean said as he went around, trying to remind himself than Juan was not another Carrington Institute agent so naturally wasn't as disciplined as one and had to remind himself of this. Approaching the Nebaenaska table he sat in front of the dealer and despite a strange look he began dealing cards. It was a newer game so Sean wasn't quite sure on how to play it, but this didn't matter.  
  
A/N: Nebaenaska is a totally meaningless word that was thought up at 3am, I just didn't want to use Black jack or that other card game that's commonly used like almost every other scene like this does.   
  
It became quickly known that Sean had a lot of money. Juan wonder what Sean was doing while Sean was losing on purpose.  
  
"You know how to play this?" Juan asked Sean  
  
"Does it matter?" Sean replied  
  
"Hey Peter, check out table number 18, the guy plays like an idiot" One of the people said watching Sean from a camera  
  
"Hmm… What's with him?" Trent asked. He insisted everybody call him Peter just in case his actual name was mentioned in front of somebody it shouldn't have been  
  
About 5 minutes later, Sean decided to start playing seriously getting a bit of help from Juan, and it quickly turned in his favour, even the dealer looked slightly concerned.  
  
"Fiona, deal with him would you darling?" Trent asked  
  
"Certainly Peter" Fiona gave Trent a smile  
  
The dealer suddenly moved aside and Fiona was at the table, Sean didn't even look up but then suddenly he began to realise that he was losing money again. He then looked up and saw Fiona. She recognised him.  
  
"What are you doing here, you are only asking for trouble. You'll only get yourself killed" Fiona continued dealing. She had her long hair out and wore a blue dress.   
  
"Yeah you look different when you aren't in a bathrobe, where's your friend?" Sean asked  
  
"Yeah very funny, he's upstairs" Fiona replied. She seemed a lot more confident but she was still spilling out information to Sean far too easily.   
  
"Take me to him, I want to meet him" Sean said  
  
"…Okay" Fiona paused for a moment before agreeing  
  
Juan got up to walk with Sean but Sean stopped him.  
  
"Best stay here, if I don't come back in an hour go back to the bar" Sean said  
  
Juan nodded as Sean and Fiona used the elevator to go up to the top of the large hotel/casino.  
  
Fiona walked out of the lift as Sean continued to follow her, he wondered if Junior was being held here as Sean was taken into the office, immediately he recognised Trent in his typical red suit. He was sitting in front of a desk with the city behind him in a glass window. It seemed Trent liked the views he could get.   
  
"Search him but be gentle" Trent ordered  
  
2 men searched him and found Sean's Falcon 2  
  
"Why do you carry your weapon around in a town like this? Maybe not like where you come from" Trent said   
  
Sean said nothing, he thought Trent might be onto him, he should have got Juan to hold his weapon, Fiona watched quietly.   
  
"Those scars I mean, rough neighbourhood? Well whatever. You don't need this here" Trent said handing the Falcon 2 back to Sean "Fiona tells me you wanted to meet me, why may I ask?" Trent asked  
  
Sean wondered if Andy did come through with that device, he hoped for a slightly deeper voice enough for Trent not to suspect anything but not too much for Fiona to suspect anything either.   
  
"I wanted to make a deposit… you do have a bank here Mr. Easton?" Sean let the real name slip, on purpose  
  
"Hmm? You know my real name… interesting…how though?" Trent asked  
  
Suddenly the glass broke. 5 men jumped in through the window. Sean took a quick scan and noticed all of them were holding Dragons, in a quick analysis he knew this meant US Military.   
  
"You are all under…" One of the men started but he was interrupted by gun fire, Trent's men fired their K7 Avengers to fight back while Sean and Trent instinctively ducked underneath the desk. Sean took out a combat boost he had and used it.   
  
"Hey could you help me, I'll pay you good" Trent said to Sean very slowly.   
  
Sean was far from interested in helping Trent but he knew if he stayed where he was, he and Trent would be arrested, he had no choice he had to help as Trent's men were hiding and firing. It all seemed to move in slow motion, just like it was supposed to. Trent's men had dealt with 2 of them but there were still 3 that were approaching his position and a lot of Trent's men were falling. Sean stood up and fired his Falcon at one of them wounding him trying not to kill but stun instead and because everything was so much slower it was made a lot easier to dodge the bullets as he shot the another in the arm causing him along with his friend to drop their weapons while Trent's men dealt with the final one. The rest of Trent's men picked up their weapons and some more of Trent's guards grabbed the two soldiers. There was only 1 of Trent's men left out of the 5 guarding the room.   
  
"Screw you bastard!" The soldier shouted struggling with Trent's men  
  
"Put them in the cell. I'll get somebody to interrogate them later" Trent said, angered.   
  
"Yes Mr. Macolyan" one of Trent's men said while they were struggling holding the men down  
  
"Just forget the fake name, it doesn't seem to matter what I do I'll never end up losing everybody" Trent said as his men left. Fiona and Sean remained in the room. Fiona didn't seem too bothered by what had happened in front of her.   
  
Trent, Sean and Fiona moved into another room, this one had no windows.   
  
"It seems I owe you one, not only did you protect me you also captured them for me. Unfortunately whatever you came to see me about can't happen, I have to leave right now. First the Institute got me and now the US Military, that's it I'm fleeing the country" Trent said  
  
"Oh where are you going?" Sean asked. He didn't like the fact he helped the guy he wanted dead but it could turn out to help him a lot more if he could get Trent to trust him, however he would need to play his cards very carefully.  
  
"Wait that gives me an idea. How would you like to be my personal bodyguard, I don't even know your name though" Trent said "But hey, you did some great stuff there, regardless of where you come from or whatever it doesn't matter I need somebody to protect me better than these incompetent fools" Trent said  
  
"Name's Mark Kane, I need to think about it first" Sean said. Trent had said the exact words he wanted him to say, he had no doubts in his mind that he would accept Trent's deal. The saying keep your friends closer, keep your enemies closer crossed his mind.   
  
"Nice to meet you Mr. Kane, but how did you know me before?" Trent asked  
  
"Friend at dataDyne, told me to see you, said I'd find you here" Sean replied  
  
"Hmm, well whatever. It pays very well, but if you are going to make a decision it's either now or never. Sorry to rush this, but I have no choice" Trent said  
  
"Alright, I'll do it, when do we leave?" Sean asked  
  
"Tomorrow, and that's when you start. Come back outside there will be a limo waiting for you. Can I ask though, why do you wear those glasses all the time for" Trent said  
  
"Well… if you must know" Sean said as he took of his glasses for a split second and Trent saw into those yellowish coloured eyes as he stepped back, Sean immediately put the glasses back on.  
  
"That's different, those things must almost glow in the dark. I'll stop asking probing questions" Trent said  
  
"Thanks" Sean replied  
  
"Anyway Fiona show him downstairs" Trent said  
  
"Very well Trent" Fiona said as she gave him a kiss  
  
Sean and Fiona went downstairs and Juan saw him and started walking outside.  
  
"Who's that?" Fiona asked  
  
"Just somebody I know" Sean replied  
  
"You're a secretive guy aren't you" Fiona said "Come this way" Fiona walked Sean into a small room  
  
She then took out some kind of device, Sean thought she would attack but she didn't instead she seem move the device around the walls.   
  
"Right, it's safe" Fiona said  
  
"Huh? What's safe?" Sean asked  
  
"This room, no bugs, cameras or anything" Fiona replied  
  
"What do you mean?" Sean wondered where this was leading to  
  
"Firstly, I am an undercover agent for the NSA, not Trent's boyfriend. I couldn't care less about the slime ball. I also know you are a Carrington Institute agent, your weapon, the combat boost and also your accuracy it all leads to you being an Institute agent. I am on direct orders from the President to spy on him but wait until his orders come to do anything to him. I'll be definitely questioning who gave orders for that attack because I know he didn't give them and he insisted that nothing be done against Trent without his approval. I'm Mary Bluetorra, what's your real name?" Mary asked  
  
"Firstly prove it to me you work for the NSA" Sean said  
  
"Fair enough" Mary replied showing her ID  
  
Sean scanned it carefully, it passed his approval.  
  
"Okay, I'm Sean Lomberson" Sean replied  
  
"What so you are the one who has been on the Maian planet for the past 8 years?" Mary asked  
  
"Yes. Although why does the President want nothing to happen to Trent?" Sean asked  
  
"Because he wants to capture not kill, the military have other ideas. Anyway we better leave, but why are you here from why does Daniel Carrington want Trent for" Mary asked  
  
"Technically I'm not really an institute agent well not at the moment, but I was one, Daniel doesn't want him, but I do. I resigned because of it, I am after Trent's kid. I want to get him back before anything happens to him" Sean said  
  
"Are you sure that's all?" Mary asked with a smile  
  
"Well I want Trent too, another of my allies is affected by him too" Sean replied with a slight smile  
  
"Well good. Anyway I'll talk later, I'm glad I have somebody else to depend on, it will be funny that the two people that Trent probably trust most are going to turn on him" Mary gave a laugh before opening the door.  
  
Sean met up with Juan outside…they headed to the bar again as Juan flicked on the lights they walked in  
  
"How'd you go?" Juan asked  
  
"Fantastic, but I'll have to leave tomorrow" Sean said  
  
"Ah well, good meeting you again" Juan said  
  
"Yeah, great meeting you too" Sean replied  
  
"Why do you wear those glasses?" Juan asked with a smile  
  
"Oh not again… you are persistent. Fine" Sean took them off again revealing his bright yellow eyes  
  
Juan stepped back in surprise as Sean put them back on again.  
  
"Well I've got to find somewhere to sleep" Sean said  
  
"Just stay here, don't worry about it" Juan stretched a bit and yawned  
  
"Thanks again Juan, you've been great. If I can come back here I'll make sure I'll see you" Sean said  
  
"Okay, I'll just be in here, you can sleep in the other room. Nobody has ever used it before" Juan walked into a room and Sean walked into the room Juan pointed to. He changed and then turned out the light, landed on the bed, thankfully his eyes didn't really glow in the dark but it was annoying getting all these questions about them, but what could he do. 


	10. Perfect Dark returns

Cristalina: I intend on fixing the length of this chapter and the ones to follow, I liked the robot too; I needed something to break it up a bit. Well I've updated now at least when you read this anyway.  
  
Spiderbear: Yes, scary looking eyes, I thought of a tail and it would have been funny but not exactly fitting the theme unless it was poisonous hehe.   
  
"Hey take care Velvet" Joanna watched as Velvet stuck her keys in the door to leave for work  
  
"You too, you may have recovered but you should still relax" Velvet said  
  
"I'm so bored though, I've gotten over relaxation, there is only so much TV I can watch before my blood boils and I've got to do something" Joanna replied frustrated  
  
"Have fun" Velvet walked out ignoring Joanna  
  
"Grr" Joanna growled miserably as she stood up and tried to find something that would amuse her. Velvet's house seemed so much simpler compared to her own.   
  
Velvet was driving as usual, she wished she could have said yes to Joanna, but she thought she might get into trouble with Carrington or Sarah. However she noticed a car had been following her for sometime now, it was taking every exact direction that she did. She was definitely being followed, as Velvet picked up speed so did the driver behind her, but before she knew it she suddenly felt sleepy, as she turning around she noticed that there was a tiny needle like object in the back window that had quietly broken a small hole in the glass and put gas in the car, Velvet tried to reach out and remove it but as she tried she passed out.

------

Jonathan was pacing around the Institute cafeteria, again. This was his third straight day of boredom, although it could have been worse, he could be in the firing range testing Foster's most boring weapons, the device lab wasn't much better as Wendy seemed busy on another project at the moment, or even worse still he could have been assigned to chase after Sean and was forced to accept. However he wished Carrington would hurry up and find out the connection in that stupid shoe; it never took this long before.   
  
"Jonathan Dark to the front desk please" Suzan's voice called out over the loudspeakers in the Institute, interrupting his thoughts.  
  
Jonathan went to the front desk and spoke to Suzan.  
  
"You asked for me?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Yeah, Perfect cow on the phone for you" Suzan replied  
  
"Who?" Jonathan smiled sarcastically he knew she meant Joanna but wanted to mess around with her  
  
"Joanna then" Suzan gave some rare politeness as she handed him the phone "I guess you want a have a nice day" Suzan said  
  
"Would you like fries with that should come first" Jonathan replied as he uploaded the call from the front phone into his mobile, but why would Jo call him in the first place.  
  
"Hello?" Jonathan answered into the phone  
  
"Hi Jonathan, listen I want to return to the Institute, sure time off was great, but I am totally bored out of my mind, could you come and get me, I've got the OK from Sarah" Joanna said  
  
"Whoa, why didn't you say anything to your sister this morning?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Because she was so insistent I stayed here, and she isn't there yet according to Suzan, although she should have got there a while ago now" Joanna said  
  
"Well if you say so, I'll just get the okay from Carrington but, are really you sure Jo?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Definitely, don't make me regret asking this of you" Joanna said  
  
"Alright, I'll be there in 20 minutes I guess" Jonathan replied  
  
"Wait, I'm not at my place, I'm at Velvet's" Joanna said quickly   
  
"No prob, see you soon" Jonathan hung up his phone.   
  
He went up to Carrington's office wanting to get permission to leave for about 50 minutes.  
  
"Ah Jonathan, you are just in time" Carrington said with a smile Jonathan hadn't seen for days.  
  
"Umm sir, I was going to…" Jonathan thought, if he told the truth Carrington may not tell him what is going on, but there was no other way around it "going to pick up Joanna, she's ready again" Jonathan told him  
  
"Oh? Well, alright, but be quick… are you sure she's ready?" Carrington asked  
  
"She said so" Jonathan replied  
  
"Well okay, where's Velvet anyway?" Carrington asked  
  
"I don't know, nobody seems to be able to find her" Jonathan replied

-----

"HEY! Who are you! Let me go!" Velvet screamed as she regained consciousness, she couldn't see anything as she had a blindfold on her. She was also tied up she couldn't move her legs or her arms.   
  
"Remove the blindfold" A male voice ordered, Velvet was able to see again but it didn't do much good the room was very dark, she saw the man in front of her, but couldn't see him very well because of the lack of light.   
  
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing to me!?" Velvet demanded  
  
"Hehe, generally in an integration I ask the questions, but first remove the ropes" the voice ordered  
  
"But sir are you sure!?" One of the guards asked  
  
"Just do it!" the voice demanded again  
  
Velvet allowed them to untie the ropes, and that is when she struck the person on her right, but the source of the voice held her arms down.  
  
"Easy, easy" The voice said overpowering her attempts at fighting the guards off  
  
"Tie her up again?" one of the guards asked  
  
"No" The voice replied "Leave us" The voice said  
  
"Are you sure?" The same guard asked  
  
"OF COURSE I AM SURE! Stop questioning me or I'll report you to Trent" The voice suddenly lost its patience   
  
"Yes sir" They walked out and closed the door  
  
Velvet struggled once more, but to her surprise the man let up.  
  
"Velvet stop, it's Sean" Sean told her  
  
"It can't be" Velvet said  
  
"Look closely" Sean told her as he moved closer and took of his glasses, fortunately the yellow eyes had faded, Velvet gave a smile.  
  
"What are you doing here? Why are you working for Trent" Velvet asked  
  
"Well to get Junior back of course, I know where he is but I can't get to him, it's restricted even to me" Sean told her  
  
"What do you mean even to you, you like high rank somehow or something?" Velvet asked  
  
"Pretty much, I'm Trent's personal bodyguard, but only Trent can go in that room along with some scientist. I can only imagine what they plan to do to Junior with some of the Skedar technology they have" Sean sighed   
  
"How awful. What's that humming?" Velvet asked  
  
"Currently flying to Hong Kong, Trent wants to hide there. I better go, or they'll get suspicious I'm talking to you for a bit too long, they aren't expecting you'll crack until the third interrogation, lucky for me and you, I get to do all of them. I'm glad that there aren't any recording devices in here" Sean said  
  
"How do you know?" Velvet asked  
  
"A device from the NSA, but I'll tell you what's going on later. I've got to get back now. Take this so Carrington knows where you are and don't do anything rash alright?" Sean said giving Velvet her tracking device back that she could swallow so Carrington would know her exact location.  
  
"You know I won't" Velvet replied swallowing it immediately  
  
"Yeah okay, sorry I shouldn't have said that" Sean gave a weak smile as he left the room and closed the door. Velvet heard further conversation.   
  
"Should we go in and guard her?" One of them asked  
  
"No, leave her. She's still feeling weak, besides there isn't a way out on a plane" Sean replied "Guard the door though" Sean told him. Velvet guessed that Sean was trying to keep his cover but keeping her as comfortable as he could, she wasn't sure how good he was at undercover though but either way she'd soon find out. Although how did Sean get connected with the NSA and Trent all in the period of less than 24 hours, assuming he did sleep, Velvet thought.  
  
"Say Mark, Find out anything?" Velvet heard a voice it was definitely Trent.  
  
"No" Sean replied  
  
"No matter, I didn't order her capture to be interrogated, but now with the 3 strongest Institute agents down there is only one more left and it's only a matter of time before Carrington assigns him to something else" Trent gave an evil laughter, Sean gave a slight chuckle and Velvet also smiled to herself, he had no idea that Joanna was almost ready to return, and Sean was right under his nose.

------

Jonathan had arrived at Velvet's place, he knocked on the door and Joanna was all ready and almost opened the door before he knocked.  
  
"Let's go, let's go!" Joanna said impatiently  
  
"Alright, alright, if you really want to" Jonathan replied as if he had just told a child they could have something they wanted.   
  
Joanna just gave him a look but Jonathan ignored it as Joanna got into the other side of the car. When they were both in they took off.  
  
At the Institute 20 minutes later.  
  
"Ah welcome back Joanna, are you ready?" Carrington asked   
  
"Definitely" Joanna replied, she knew she had to be careful of how much Daniel made her do.  
  
"Your sister has been captured" Carrington told her  
  
"Where is she?!" Joanna covering her mouth in shock  
  
"Currently on board a plane registered to a Peter Macolyan, which as Grimshaw has found out is an alias for Trent Easton. Somehow she's got her tracking device past security and used it. The flight seems to be scheduled to land in Hong Kong. It matches because we've finally got a result on the poison tip, we couldn't find anything because we were simply looking in the wrong places. It comes from a very small factory there which was again owned by Peter Macolyan. So you know what I want you to do, go to Hong Kong find out info and get Velvet back" Carrington told them  
  
"Understood" Joanna replied.   
  
"Sounds simple enough" Jonathan said half sarcastically.   
  
Within an hour they were on a plane to Hong Kong.  
  
"Jo… are you alright?" Jonathan asked, Jo was very quiet  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine but this time I'm going to kill the bastard, can you come up with a horrible death" Joanna asked  
  
"Well, I guess but…" Jonathan started  
  
"I'm really annoyed I couldn't take care of Trent the first time, couldn't beat me fair so uses a stupid cheap trick" Joanna said angrily   
  
"Well I put a grenade into the mouth of my worst enemy and let it blow him to pieces, ask Sean, he saw it" Jonathan whispered  
  
"What you!? I never imagined that you would do anything like that, what did he do?" Joanna asked  
  
"He betrayed me, and the Institute and… killed… somebody" Jonathan replied  
  
"So? What else is new" Joanna replied missing the point of Jonathan's slower talk  
  
Jonathan didn't know how to reply, he was a little hurt by Jo not picking up the change in tone but he learned to deal her and should have known better to mention it around her. As much as she was strong as an agent she could on occasion be really be as thick when it came to the obvious.   
  
"I… I'm sorry" Joanna picked up on Jonathan's silence  
  
It was the first time Joanna had ever apologised to his face about anything.  
  
"It's alright Jo, it doesn't matter now" Jonathan said  
  
"No tell me" Joanna replied insisting  
  
"Well okay, promise to keep this to yourself okay?" Jonathan said  
  
"Sure" Joanna replied  
  
"You heard of Natasha Filnaro?" Jonathan asked  
  
"A little, wasn't she in the device lab until about 8 years ago when she quit" Joanna said  
  
"That's what Carrington told you. She actually died on assignment… with me… she was my fiancée, I proposed to her the previous night" Jonathan told her  
  
Joanna was totally caught by surprise, she had never suspected this in him, he always seemed like a guy who always kept to himself. Then again, now she knew why.   
  
"Don't tell anybody, not even Carrington I told you this. Terrence, my enemy killed her. He used to work for the Institute until Cassandra gave him a huge pay rise to betray me and of course he did turning on me during a mission which I was lucky to survive. About a year later I thought I had killed him but the Skedar revived him, but his second death was fatal after falling 75 floors down and then just to make sure I stuck a grenade in his mouth" Jonathan said breathing when he was done  
  
"Alright, again I'm sorry" Joanna said  
  
"Thanks Jo" Jonathan replied. After that nothing was said.  
  
Hong Kong  
  
It was night around 8pm on a dark cloudy night. Jonathan and Joanna knew what they were after but finding it in the busy crowded streets was not easy. Market stalls set up all over, as the pair moved against the crowd in an attempt to get somewhere, but it was just impossible, they had no idea where they were going as the characters guiding them were very hard to read when you weren't familiar with them, especially when they both knew they were searching for a needle in a haystack. Both of them were getting tired and frustrated with it and then it started raining making it only harder.   
  
"Jonathan this is impossible, let's find somewhere to rest up" Joanna said  
  
"Not yet. Look you go if you want but…" Jonathan was interrupted by a loud shout.  
  
The crowd parted to look where it came from and Joanna and Jonathan easily made it through with speed, although they probably knew it was unlikely to lead them anywhere it was the only thing they had. They then saw what was going on; two boys in their late teens were surrounded by at least 7 guards in dataDyne uniforms.  
  
"You better give it back or ELSE!" one of the guards ordered  
  
"You can take it from MY dead body!" One of the boys replied   
  
"As you wish" The guards began to move in to beat the stuffing out of them but then one went one way and knocked one of the guards down and the other knocked the other forcing the way open. Two guards moved in each of them and just as they were each going to fight back Jonathan and Joanna each gave a swift punch to one of them each taking the guards weapon and raised it at the other guards who threw a smoke bomb, Jonathan tried to catch it but missed just leaving him coughing in the thick smoke while the guards made their get away.   
  
"Hey thanks for that" One of the boys said  
  
"Yeah thanks, me and my brother thought we would have a tough time getting out of that one" The other replied.   
  
"You guys twins then?" Joanna said getting a look at the two of them, they were obviously of Asian appearance.   
  
"Yup, anyway I'm Kelvin and that's Melvin, or Kel and Mel as we can be called" Kelvin said who was dress in a white t-shirt with jeans and white sneakers. Jonathan was still coughing from the smoke bomb.   
  
"Strange name for your… background shall we say?" Joanna asked  
  
"Well it's our English name, our actual names are hard to pronounce" Melvin said "Crap my hair man…" Melvin had a hair style that could only be defined as weird, it was sticking up like he had put his finger into a power socket, but because of the fight and the rain water it began to fall into his face. Kelvin was laughing at Melvin's predicament as he tried to get his hair to stand up again but it was no good. He also had a blue t-shirt with black tracksuit pants and black sneakers. Both Mel and Kel's T-shirt's read, don't listen to him, I'm the smart twin.  
  
"Oh shut it Kel" Mel gave a punch to his brother on the shoulder  
  
"What did those guards want with you?" Jonathan asked as he recovered from the smoke   
  
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot, our prize!" Kel gave a smile as he pulled out some kind of computerized device.  
  
"What is it?" Joanna asked  
  
"How the hell should I know, we just swiped it from them. Just to get some revenge, for what they did" Mel replied as he gave up on his hair and just pushed it backwards away from his eyes.   
  
"But who are you?" Kelvin asked  
  
"I'm Joanna and this is Jonathan" Joanna told them   
  
"What did they do, to cause you to seek revenge?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Hey, let's get out here first, they may send back up" Mel told them  
  
"Shit yeah, some did get away" Kelvin replied as Jonathan and Joanna followed Kel and Mel.  
  
A/N: While not complete copies these characters are slightly based off Yun and Yang from the Street Fighter 3 series, all they have in common are, they live in Hong Kong and kick butt.  
  
As Mel and Kel lead the way back to wherever they planed to go it became clear they knew the area extremely well, and within 10 minutes they were at their destination.  
  
"Here we are at home again" Mel said as he put his key into the door  
  
"Still use primitive locks" Joanna joked  
  
"You think I'd trust those computerized locks that can be hacked so easily these days?" Kel replied "Well at least the ones you can get here" Mel added  
  
"Fair enough, my sister uses them too" Joanna smiled but then thought about Velvet and wondered if she was alright.   
  
"Hey Jo, check this out" Jonathan called to her  
  
Joanna walked over to Jonathan looking from the outside.  
  
"These characters match, this is the place we are looking for" Jonathan told her quietly  
  
"That can't be right, these guys hate dataDyne" Joanna said  
  
"Let's just walk and talk though, find out what we can" Jonathan replied as Mel opened the door  
  
They walked in and saw a lot of computerized stuff, some weapons and other things on a desk just ahead of the front door. There was an upstairs floor and the downstairs area was a lot larger then it first looked.  
  
"It's not much but it's home" Mel walked into the lounge room and sat down on the rather large couch.   
  
"Not much? You guys are doing well considering" Joanna replied  
  
"I guess but it's not as good as it used to be" Kel said going into the kitchen  
  
"Now what's this revenge thing with dataDyne" Jonathan asked getting straight into it  
  
"Oh, well you can see all the stuff we have. Obviously it's not for us, we used to unofficially worked for dataDyne. All we did was make some poison tipped thing, an old trick and secret only us and our grandfather knew, how to get it into a certain spot and kill instantly without anybody knowing what had really happened, silent death it used to be called. I hated doing it but we had to just to survive and thankfully we never found out quite what they were using them for, although they were being moved around the world and stuff. But yesterday night we were told our services were no longer required" Mel told them  
  
"We were kicked out, just after making a delivery of the stuff, we tried to ask why and how and stuff but got no answers, we didn't even get paid for the job so we decided on a plan to get revenge. Since only a few knew of our dismissal we were able to sneak in and steal a thing or two" Kel said from the kitchen, judging by the computerized sound and the steam he was doing some kind of kettle boiling.   
  
"Yeah a few two hundred things" Mel gave a smile "This however was very well guarded and not easy to get, I have no idea what it is used for but it seemed to be very important" Mel showed the device to Jonathan it seemed like a very strange communication device. Joanna grabbed it and looked into the screen and press one of the buttons randomly. It started making a strange screeching sound.   
  
"Hey don't do that" Mel took the device back off Jo as he turned off the sound  
  
"Yeah, no offense, but we want to sell it" Kel came into the room  
  
"Sorry, I was trying to work out what it did" Joanna said  
  
"It's alright, but we'd really like it in untouched condition if possible" Mel told her  
  
"Guys, don't you think you should find out what this does" Jonathan asked  
  
"Perhaps, it's pretty weird looking, what do you think Kel?" Mel asked as he noticed Kel bring in tea  
  
"Well I guess, but where do we start" Kel replied as he handed the cups to Jonathan and Joanna  
  
"No idea…" Mel replied as he accepted his cup from Kel  
  
"We didn't ask, but thanks anyway" Jonathan said   
  
"Drink if you want, don't if you don't" Mel said, flicking his hair away from his eyes again.   
  
"That hair man, it's got a mind of it's own, let me cut it" Kel went for some scissors near by on the table  
  
"Noooo! Don't, I like my hair so leave it alone" Mel said raising his voice a little bit   
  
"You're no fun" Kel sat back and folded his arms  
  
Jonathan continued to look at the strange device, if what Kel and Mel were saying was true dataDyne here had to be guarding this for a reason. It looked like one of those communicators that he once found while at area 51 undercover, but he never found out then what it was for either. 


	11. Two paths collide

Mary and Sean got off the plane with Trent behind them. It was raining when he landed, Mary and Trent went quickly inside and Sean went in after him. Sean was wearing the high ranking dataDyne uniform unlike before when he was talking to Velvet.   
  
"Welcome to dataDyne Hong Kong I guess" Trent told him  
  
"Thanks, where's the Institute girl?" Sean asked  
  
"She'll be along soon. Anyway could you go check on production downstairs, there should be 50 of the new shoes. I'll send the girl down and when you check it for me you can try again to get info out of her. Fiona show him down would you dear?" Trent asked  
  
"Certainly" Mary replied as she walked down the hall way and towards a lift.   
  
Sean and Mary went into the lift, and headed to production as Mary led him there.  
  
"Ah you must be Mark, and as always it's nice to see you Fiona" A man in his late 30's greeted them, Sean saw right through it, he was not happy to see either of them.  
  
"How many of these shoes have you got" Sean asked, he wondered why Trent was making such a big deal about shoes  
  
"50 exactly with the specified shoes, and we fired the twins as requested by Trent" The man smiled  
  
"Alright, seems all good" Sean said  
  
"Good work" Mary told him  
  
"Thank you both" The man walked away and went back to his computer, Sean peered back into the room and caught him playing a game of some kind on the computer, Sean just ignored it.  
  
Mary and Sean kept walking down a hallway and down some stairs.  
  
"I can't believe they sacked the twins, I wonder why they did that for?" Mary wondered aloud.   
  
"Why is it a big deal?" Sean said  
  
"The twins are what have their suicide secret, unless they were stupid enough to tell somebody what it was, but that's unlikely, they wouldn't tell anybody" Mary said  
  
"Suicide secret?" Sean asked  
  
"Well yeah, it's a type of needle poison that no matter where it is injected it kills instantly, extremely lethal. Trent had it put into shoes so that his men couldn't be forced to talk instead they could just commit suicide on capture" Mary told him  
  
"Nice, although how would he get his men to be so loyal?" Sean asked  
  
"Fear, fear and a big pay cheque" Mary replied "If Trent got his hands on somebody that gave information they would suffer a far worse death then instant poison" Mary said as she opened the staircase door to the cell level. Outside the cell she was instructed to go to there were 2 guards outside. They stood aside and Sean walked in with Mary, he scanned with the device Mary gave him and found nothing. It was a large white room with no windows just some kind of ventilation system but there was no way anything could get through. Mary left the room and left Sean to speak to Velvet  
  
"Carrington should have sent Jon or somebody out here by now, you'll be out soon" Sean told her  
  
"Okay" Velvet replied with a bit of sadness in her voice  
  
"You okay?" Sean asked Velvet  
  
"Aside being in this cell I'm fine, but what are you going to do?" Velvet asked  
  
"I'm not sure, it depends on what happens" Sean replied  
  
However the door opened and a guard walked in.  
  
"Sir, Mr. Easton wants to see you" The guard said  
  
"What now?" Sean asked annoyed  
  
"Yes sir" He replied  
  
"Very well. Ill be back again later, and next time I won't be so kind to you" Sean said as he walked away from Velvet and exited closing the door behind him.   
  
Sean headed back upstairs with the guard who lead him into Trent's office.  
  
"So, anything?" Trent asked  
  
"I couldn't really try, I'm not getting anywhere" Sean replied  
  
"Well, as I said it didn't really matter" Trent replied  
  
Sean was annoyed, even if he was really working for him there was no way he could get anything out of Velvet, then it had hit him. Trent didn't want him to see Velvet at all it was just a diversion so Trent could get Junior in without him knowing where he was.   
  
"It's all so exciting" Trent said  
  
"What is?" Sean asked playing along  
  
"My project, it's all coming together, first the death of the only two who know anything and then only 4 hours to go" Trent smiled  
  
"Oh" Sean replied. If his project meant Junior it meant he only had 4 hours to find him, but that would be impossible if he had to be by Trent's side.   
  
-----  
  
Jonathan continued to look at the device. If he could get Wendy and Grimshaw to look at it together surely they could work out what it did.   
  
"Hey guys, I have some people back in America who could work out what that thing does" Jonathan told them  
  
"Oh no, things tend to disappear like that, I'm not giving this up" Kel said  
  
"It's useless to you, surely you won't make much for it" Jonathan replied  
  
"You'd be surprised at some of the crap my brother can convince people to buy" Mel said "Although it's only a matter of time before you dig a hole too deep for us to get out of, maybe if I go with him it won't go walk about" Mel finished  
  
"No way, who cares what the thing does" Kel said  
  
"I do honestly, what if we are throwing away heaps, I've just got a feeling on this" Mel replied  
  
"So you want to travel across an ocean to another country all based on a feeling…" Kel put sarcastic emphasis on feeling  
  
"Stupid brat! You'd never understand! Unlike you I don't want to be here going nowhere for the rest of my life" Mel said  
  
"Why you!" Kel went to tackle Mel. Joanna suddenly heard an all too familiar sound.   
  
"GUYS! GET OUT BOMB!" Joanna shouted out loud as she and Jonathan ran out, Mel and Kel didn't make contact so were able to run out after them and it was a good thing because just after Mel and Kel got out the bottom floor exploded.  
  
Mel got up from the ground after diving out. Joanna and Jonathan looked at the hovercopter in the sky, it was definitely a dataDyne one.   
  
"We aren't out of this yet" Jonathan started running and Joanna followed. Mel and Kel stared at their house until Joanna took their hands and they all started running away from the explosion. Soon the twins worked out why, the house began to crumble from the bottom and the entire structure fell into a hole created in the ground and another explosion occurred just over where they were standing.   
  
"Our home, our things, everything!" Kel shouted  
  
"At least we got out ourselves" Mel replied  
  
"And yet you fail to notice we HAVE nothing!" Kel shouted back  
  
"Hovercopter variant Skedar bomb?" Jonathan asked Joanna  
  
"Yeah, seems about right" Joanna replied  
  
"Whatar bomb?" Mel asked  
  
"Never mind" Jonathan said   
  
"How did you know that was going to happen?" Mel asked  
  
"Heard it drop from the hovercopter" Joanna replied  
  
"dataDyne, hovercopter! Let's go right now, I don't take anything lying down" Kel said "You coming Mel?" Kel asked running off  
  
"Definitely, let's go" Mel ran after him  
  
Jonathan and Joanna didn't quite know what to do. They had to go there anyway but it was probably wiser to plan the attack. However they needed to know of its location so decided to follow them.   
  
About 4 blocks down they came to some glass doors. The dataDyne logo on them and on top of the building.  
  
"Seems unbreakable doesn't it?" Kel smiled almost glad when he punched the glass and it shattered easily  
  
"Haha, not so unbreakable now" Mel replied  
  
"He's that strong?" Joanna asked  
  
"He can dream that he is, but he just uses a gold ring on his knuckle to shatter any glass on contact" Mel said as Jonathan took out his Magnum and shot one of the guards coming while Kel overwhelmed the other by disarming him and using his own weapon against him. Both of the guards were armed with CMP150's. After the twins took their ammo they started peering around the building looking for enemies shooting on finding them.   
  
"Well, we are in now" Joanna smiled  
  
"You should get along fine with these two, you have one obvious trait in common shoot first ask questions later. Oh and be as noisy as possible" Jonathan laughed  
  
"Oh knock it off" Joanna followed the twins and Jonathan walked behind her.  
  
-----  
  
An alarm sounded  
  
"What could it possibly be now!" Trent shouted from his desk  
  
"Sir intruders from the front door!" A guard said showing Trent the pictures.  
  
"Shit! How did the Institute find me already!" Trent shouted looking at Jonathan and Joanna "And those twins I thought you took care of them!" Trent pointed at the person who had dropped the bomb from the hovercopter  
  
"But sir, their house blew up! I destroyed it!" He replied  
  
"Don't give me that shit, you didn't check to see if they escaped, and now somehow they formed an alliance with the Institute" Trent picked up his DY357 Magnum and fired at the pilot who died immediately.   
  
"Mark, get the prisoner from downstairs now!" Trent demanded "Activate the proxy mine doors" He continued to order people around  
  
"Yes sir" A guard replied  
  
The twins then came to a door. They were about to open it when…  
  
"STOP!" Joanna shouted  
  
The twins turned back immediately  
  
"Step back!" She ordered   
  
The twins did as they were told, stepping a good distance away.  
  
Joanna then threw a timed mine but getting near the door it exploded  
  
"What?" Mel said surprised  
  
"Proximity mines, they would blow up if you tried to open the door" Joanna said  
  
"Then how'd you know?" Kel asked  
  
"Threat detector on this mine" Joanna replied showing another timed mine giving her an easy sight range of where any explosive or autogun device was.   
  
-----

Sean went down the back stairs to avoid Jonathan and Joanna. He wasn't sure if he was glad or sad to see them, he knew if he was to make a move it would be now it had just, the most obvious choice was to do what Trent ordered and backstab him when Joanna and Jonathan and those twins Mary must have been talking about got in, alternatively he could ignore Trent's orders and go find Junior but he had no idea where could he be and it could mean crossing the fire path of his allies, which was always dangerous in a dataDyne uniform. He came to Velvet's cell and the guards weren't even there, probably called away to deal with the threat. Unlocking the door he went to Velvet.   
  
"Come on, let's go…" Sean said  
  
"What? Where?" Velvet asked  
  
"I'm not sure" Sean replied  
  
"Not sure? What's going on?" Velvet asked  
  
Another thought had crossed Sean's mind what if he allowed Velvet to find Joanna and let her know he was inside, there were too many options, all leading to different possibilities.   
  
"Trent's office, Joanna is here with Jonathan to rescue you. I have a plan" Sean said  
  
"Why can't I go to her?" Velvet asked  
  
Sean thought for a moment "If you do, Trent will see it and run and my cover will be likely blown" Sean replied as they went up the stairs, Velvet could hear the gunfire.  
  
"I hope you know what you are doing" Velvet said  
  
"So do I" Sean smiled nervously  
  
Sean returned to Trent's office with Velvet who pretended to struggle.   
  
"Well, at least you got her here. The project is going right on schedule, they'll be just in time to face it" Trent smiled as they all waited for the inevitable. Eventually Joanna and friends would come through those doors leading to the office and that's when the move would be made. However at that very moment a hole blew up in the side of the wall. After the smoke cleared Sean saw Jonathan, Joanna and the twins. Mary drew out a black pistol and pointed it to Trent's head, Sean followed with his Falcon 2.   
  
"Don't shoot, they are on our side" Velvet waved her arms as she ran to Joanna as Sean had let her go when he pulled out his gun on Trent.   
  
"You bastards! How could you betray me!?" Trent shouted  
  
"Trent Easton, you are under arrest for the kidnapping and attempted murder of the President of the United States" Mary said "Whew, I've always wanted to say that" Mary smiled at Sean and he returned it  
  
"Who the hell are you both!? Cops!? You must be kidding" Trent said  
  
"Nice job Mary. Oh and I can't believe you didn't see right through this" Sean pocketed the shades, without the yellowness in his eyes, despite his hair and the marks on this face Trent could tell.  
  
"You! It can't be! They told me you were dead" Trent shouted  
  
"They also told you, that they were dead Trent" Mary said pointing to the twins  
  
"Mary? You are Mary Bluetorra? … I should have known, I trained you once… I guess you have me beat" Trent sighed  
  
"And now for payback" Mel said as he and Kel pulled up CMP150's they had picked up early, both aimed at his head.   
  
However as Mary was holding Trent he disappeared.   
  
"Cloaking damn it" Joanna shot randomly at the position at where Trent was  
  
"Either of you get a lock?" Jonathan asked Mel and Kel  
  
"I see a red square if that's what you mean" Mel replied "It's moving around"  
  
"Fire!" Jonathan ordered "At the red square"   
  
Mel did so but Trent's shield protected him from the fire but it weakened to a dark green state. He then closed the door.  
  
"Now he got away…" Mary said slamming her weapon on the desk  
  
"Not yet…" Kel ran towards the door  
  
"Kel NO!" Mel and Joanna yelled out  
  
It was too late he opened the door and Kel coped an explosion right to his face sending him backwards into the bookcase as it crashed on top of him. Mel rushed to it and tried to lift it off but the bookcase was on fire as Kel's body crashed into it, but he pushed on a part that hadn't caught fire and pushed it aside, Jonathan went to help him.   
  
Joanna, Sean and Mary moved onto dealing with Trent as they went through the door after the explosion had faded as they ran outside where Trent had run away to. They were outside on the roof level, he was about to get into his plane when Mary fired her weapon twice and the plane door caught fire. She reloaded and Trent looked behind him.   
  
"Ah you've done well to fool me for this long but this is the last time" Trent smiled and he suddenly drew a Super Dragon and used the grenade function as all three dived away.  
  
"Come on darling, bring it on!" Trent laughed as he fired another shot at Mary, Mary dived well out of the range turned around and fired back this time using standard bullets but they seemed to do nothing to Trent. Sean fired his Falcon 2 but that didn't seem to do anything either.  
  
"I see you like my new armour. You are going to have to try harder!" Trent smiled  
  
"Cheap little arsehole, you aren't getting the better of me this time" Joanna shouted angrily as she ran at Trent who fired at her but she narrowly dodged the grenade.  
  
"Cover me, I have an idea" Mary said as she ran towards a ladder  
  
Sean fired at Trent to get his attention but he was too busy trying to deal with Joanna who was at close range and tried to kick the super dragon out of his hands but Trent saw her coming and simply punched her as she tried to disarm him. Joanna staggered backwards and then went in for another attack while Trent fired a grenade at Sean but again he dived out of the explosion range. He then noticed Mary climbing a ladder to further up on the building and just as he was about to fire with the weapon Joanna knocked it out of his hands and then tried to knock him down with a punch to his face…  
  
CLANG! Joanna's fist made contact with Trent's face but she shouted in pain when she did and Trent barely reacted, she was shaking her fist and tried to get away but Trent pushed her down and went for his weapon again.  
  
"Stand away from him!" Mary ordered  
  
Trent picked up his weapon just as Mary fired her gun, as it hit Trent he was covered with an electric field and shouted in pain and dropped the weapon on the ground as he did so Joanna immediately capitalised, the electric field wore off and he went for the weapon again as Sean fired at his head still no effect but it knocked him back slightly giving Joanna the distraction she needed to pick up the Super Dragon.   
  
"I win this round… I'll see you in hell" Joanna smiled as she fired the Super Dragon grenade launcher at Trent who was still stunned from the electric field and it blew up on Trent as it made contact. However it wasn't the usual contents of a human that were going everywhere, it was different… somehow…  
  
"Why did you do that for?! I wasn't authorised to kill him!" Mary shouted  
  
"That isn't the real Trent" Joanna replied  
  
"Very good Miss Dark, now for your next assignment I have somebody I'd like you to meet" Trent's voice echoed over a loudspeaker system.  
  
"Damn it! There is no end to the madman" Sean stomped his foot  
  
A man of at least 6 foot stepped out from behind the plane, he couldn't have been older then early 20's, he was carrying that new pistol dataDyne had and a Rocket launcher. He had straight black hair but anything else was hard to make out. Joanna went to fire but…  
  
"That's…" Sean started  
  
"Yes?" Trent's voice on the speaker said  
  
"What kind of lunatic would do something this low. You really are insane" Sean shouted out  
  
"I'm glad you think so… now let's see how you deal with him" Trent said  
  
"What is it Sean?" Joanna asked  
  
"That thing… it's Junior…" Sean replied   
  
"It is time to for you to die!" Junior said coldly as he drew a Rocket launcher.  
  
All three were ready to move however he turned around and fired the rocket off in another direction. It was heading for Trent's plane  
  
"WHAT!? NOOO!" Trent's voice on the loudspeaker shouted as the plane blew up into a big explosion. However a parachute had been thrown out of the plane with Trent and Joanna didn't hesitate to fire but she didn't need to, parts of the blown up plane starting coming back down and put a big hole in the parachute sending it and Trent right to the ground and to Joanna's feet. She gave him a hard hit across the face with her Falcon 2, he whimpered slightly in pain and defeat, before Joanna hit him again knocking him out.   
  
"It's the real deal" Joanna smiled  
  
"Could be a clone" Mary said  
  
Joanna took out her data Uplink…  
  
"What's that?" Mary asked  
  
"Data Uplink, usually hacks computers but in this case I can ask the hackers at the Institute to see if it's a clone by scanning some kind of thing in his body… I have no idea how it works but it gets updated every month or so now" Joanna replied  
  
"Nahh Jo, no clone ya got there, it's human" Grimshaw's voice came through "That's the reallllll Trent Easton" Grimshaw added  
  
"Good, thanks Grimshaw" Joanna was very pleased with herself, not even Grimshaw would get her out of this good mood. She liked to settle a score. However at looking at Sean and Junior she realised her victory came at a cost.  
  
"What happened!? One minute I was… small… now I am tall… and my voice… I don't understand it, the only thing I remember before this is wanting just to get out of here…" Junior said  
  
"Don't worry, we'll find a way back to your younger self" Sean said.   
  
Jonathan came outside.  
  
"Come on, Velvet's going to the hospital" Jonathan said  
  
"Velvet is here?" Junior asked  
  
"You remember Velvet? What else do you remember?" Sean asked  
  
"I remembered everything that I knew before my father got me… except what happened when I suddenly grew big" Junior said  
  
Sean gave a sigh of relief at least Trent hadn't erased his memory as he thought he may have done.  
  
"Although Velvet seems to be okay they just want to make sure. Unfortunately Kelvin is already dead…" Jonathan said  
  
Joanna again felt sad, despite taking Trent down it had killed one person and drastically changed another, yet all she thought about was 'her' victory and 'her' revenge.   
  
"You guys go down, I'll watch over him" Sean told them  
  
"Then I'll stay here…" Junior said  
  
They went down to the bottom floor and an ambulance was there, Kel's body was in a bed covered by a sheet and Velvet was getting a look over. Only two could go inside with them. It went without saying that Joanna and Mel went in... Jonathan and Mary both watched them leave then went to return to Sean and Junior.   
  
"I'm sorry" Joanna said as the ambulance drove off.   
  
"Huh? For what? This is only Easton's fault, if I had it my way I'd kill him" Mel said  
  
"Believe me I wanted to" Joanna said  
  
"Why didn't you?" Mel asked  
  
"So we can get info out of him" Joanna replied  
  
"Like that's really going to do any good, he won't tell you anything" Mel said  
  
"Ah, but we can make him tell the truth with a device we have, and there are worse things then death" Joanna replied  
  
Mel gave a slight smile  
  
"I hope my brother doesn't give his life for nothing" Mel sighed  
  
"He won't, don't worry" Joanna sat a little closer to Mel "Listen, I know it's not much but I still have this…" Joanna showed the communication device they had earlier  
  
"You guys, keep it… while Kel could sell worthless stuff, I can't, I'm just too honest" Mel said as he put his face into his hands and cried weakly to himself. Joanna didn't know what to do, but despite only knowing him for a few hours she moved aside him and held him. She felt a little guilty despite what had happened wasn't her fault.   
  
-----  
  
Jonathan was standing with Sean, Mary, and Junior, just waiting for news from Joanna and then he'd contact Carrington and let him know what was going on. However Carrington had contacted him first…  
  
"Jonathan? You there?" Carrington's voice came  
  
"Here sir" Jonathan replied  
  
"Oh good, I tried Joanna but she wasn't responding" Carrington said "So what's the status?" Carrington asked  
  
"Mission complete. We found the place, went to dataDyne, captured Trent and that's it isn't it?" Jonathan asked  
  
"All done in that time? You both never cease to surprise me" Carrington said  
  
"Well we had a bit of help" Jonathan said. He then put his hand over the talking end and spoke to Sean  
  
"You want me to tell him you are here?" Jonathan asked  
  
Sean thought, after the robot attack maybe he should hear what Carrington has to say if he doesn't like it, he doesn't have to listen to it. Sean still shook his head undecided for the moment.   
  
"Well, what kind of help?" Carrington asked  
  
"One in the form of an NSA agent after Trent, another from two twins who used to work for dataDyne, unfortnately one lost their life here tonight by proximity mine" Jonathan said  
  
"You mean Melvin and Kelvin?" Carrington asked  
  
"Yes, how did you know?" Jonathan asked  
  
"We traced the original needle to them so that's how I knew their names but I guess what happened can wait until later" Carrington said "Which one died?" Carrington asked  
  
"Kelvin" Jonathan replied  
  
"That's not good. From what I dug up on them to help you find them they appeared to be struggling financially when their parents died, but seemed to make it back since they started working unofficially as its stated here for dataDyne. Be sure to see to it that he's okay" Carrington said  
  
Sean overheard the last part, maybe some of what he said had got through to him, but maybe this was a little too much… could Carrington know he was there.  
  
"Tell him I'm here" Sean said. He didn't know, maybe Carrington had come to his senses, although after everything that has happened he perhaps slightly regretted what had happened now.   
  
"Oh, and by the way Jonathan did you find Trent's kid?" Carrington asked  
  
Sean again nodded  
  
"Yes… Sean is here too…" Jonathan added  
  
Carrington was silent for a moment. Sean then thought he had made a mistake  
  
"Will he let me speak with him?" Carrington asked  
  
Jonathan looked over at Sean who reluctantly nodded; Jonathan passed the communicator to Sean.  
  
"I just want to say you gave me a strong reminder of what this place is about, this is going to sound silly coming from me but I'm sorry about what happened…" Carrington said  
  
"It doesn't matter, probably if I didn't run off you'd come across him anyway, nothing we can do about it now" Sean said  
  
"Anyway, is Junior alright?" Carrington asked  
  
"Sort of... Junior is a little bigger then he should be. The reason I didn't want to wait was because I feared something like this happening… Trent has used Skedar technology to develop Junior 10 years older but I don't think Trent got time to brainwash him or whatever, I don't know" Sean finished  
  
"Are you coming back to the Institute?" Carrington asked "I may have a way to solve the problem" Carrington said  
  
"Alright, I guess I'll come back, but don't assign me to anything" Sean replied  
  
"Haha, I knew you'd say that" Carrington said giving a laugh.   
  
"Do you want to speak to Jonathan again?" Sean asked  
  
"Yes but I imagine he can hear me anyway" Carrington said  
  
Jonathan nodded  
  
"He can" Sean said   
  
"I have been hiding a secret from you again… now don't go crazy it's not life threatening… yet, but I'll tell you all as soon as you arrive" Carrington then put down the communicator  
  
Jonathan took his communicator back.  
  
"Well, I can't say I'm surprised but I guess it's better he's admitting he's keeping a secret from us" Sean said  
  
"So you made peace?" Jonathan gave a smile  
  
"Oh come on, it's not that funny" Sean replied  
  
"Seeing you two fight is like seeing nuns fighting" Jonathan started laughing  
  
"Oh haha" Sean said rolling his eyes  
  
"Sean?" Junior said  
  
"Yes?" Sean replied  
  
Junior breathed deeply "I'm not sure if I want to be younger again"

Yes, cliff hangerish stuff again and there hasn't been enough of it... I don't like keeping readers waiting on the story but I realise some people say they are annoyed by it but actually like it.


	12. Carrington's secrets

Cristalina: Trent isn't dead, just captured, and who's the next bad guy… mmm good question. I liked your thing about OOT with Junior's 'problem' but unlike Link he can't go backwards and forwards in time. Yes and I knew you'd find the Nun's fighting funny. It's good to have a few laughs in a not so funny chapter.   
  
Spiderbear: Yes… that is pretty weird but Skedar technology isn't exactly normal either.   
  
-----  
  
There is a bit of conversation this chapter…   
  
Sean walked through the Institute doors with Jonathan, Joanna, Velvet and Junior. He still wasn't sure whether he had made the right decision, he became slightly nervous as he walked into the elevator and then to Carrington's office.  
  
"Welcome back everybody" Carrington said  
  
"Thank you sir" Joanna replied  
  
"Hello to you Sean… now that I have you right where I want you there will be no running away this time!" Carrington suddenly pressed a button under his desk and Joanna, Jonathan and Velvet all pulled their weapons on him. Junior looked puzzled, but Joanna quickly put her arm around his neck and pointed her Falcon at his head too.  
  
"Now! Where Easton didn't have the time to train your minds shall we say, I will… then you will become servants to me forever!" Carrington and the others started laughing evilly, and continually. Sean struggled against Velvet and Jonathan but couldn't move.   
  
"ARGGGGGGHH!" Sean screamed out  
  
He then looked around, the dark room. He tried to find something to defend himself with but it was hard in the dark, then he noticed that he was in bed. It was a dream… he was still in that Hong Kong hotel room that they got for the night and Junior was sleeping quietly across from him in the other bed, seemingly undisturbed.   
  
"Sean you okay?" Junior asked sleepily, it was hard to get used to his voice.  
  
"… I'll be fine…did I wake you" Sean breathed out in reply   
  
"No, I can't sleep…" Junior said  
  
"What is it? Being abducted by Trent and suddenly gaining 10 years?" Sean asked  
  
"Yeah, but Mr. Carrington said something about me returning to normal. I told you I wasn't sure, and I'm still not sure. Now that I'm beginning to remember Trent put me through a lot during that process" Junior said "I'm not sure if I want to go through the awful process again when I grow up again, now that I am here already I can fend myself instead of relying on other people all the time, my Mum, Andy and of course you" Junior finished  
  
"But you are… or were a kid… of course you rely on other people" Sean replied  
  
"I know, but I remember in that process is people telling me I'm weak and pathetic. I knew that it wasn't real and I tried to convince myself of that but it became harder and harder, I lost track of time eventually and what was hours seemed like years. I was told continually that Trent was my master and I had to do whatever he said, I wouldn't give in but they kept trying and I said the words that he was my master and I'd do anything he said, but I didn't believe it in my mind and thought they'd know that and keep trying but they didn't and soon after I was released" Junior explained  
  
"Wow, that's pretty rough, but I assure when you grow again it will be nothing like that" Sean said  
  
"I know but, I hated my life as a kid, I always wanted to be strong" Junior sighed   
  
"It's your choice really, while it wasn't quite anywhere near dramatic or bad as yours I was effectively warped 10 years ahead in life too getting caught up with Carrington and stuff" Sean said  
  
"Would you want it back? To do over, as normal like I've got the choice to?" Junior asked  
  
Sean thought, his immediate answer was no, he had it all together now so why would he go back and start over, he then realised Junior was in a very similar position.  
  
"I guess not, hence it's your choice, but I actually lived out the 10 years with good and bad experiences" Sean said  
  
"Give me some time, I don't know yet" Junior said lying back down  
  
"Alright, but get some rest if you can alright?" Sean said  
  
"I'll try" Junior replied  
  
Sean then went back to bed and then after a while went back to his own thoughts, what if Carrington was setting him up. No, he couldn't be Joanna, Velvet and especially Jonathan would never betray him, the Maians wouldn't like it much either if they found out and Carrington simply wasn't like that. Despite all these logical thoughts however, the what if, never left. However he soon found himself drifting off…   
  
Sean woke up and walked into the main lounge room, he found Jonathan sitting watching TV with Mel. Trent was currently serving the purpose as a footstool for Mel and Jonathan. Jonathan had to guard Trent because Joanna had only just returned and Velvet was still recovering, Mel couldn't sleep. Trent was sound asleep, but of course Jonathan had drugged him and wake him when they got to the Institute so he couldn't escape. Glancing at the time it was 8.30.   
  
"Joanna and Velvet are already calling the plane in, so we don't have to worry about getting by the front door with Trent again" Jonathan said  
  
"Alright" Sean replied   
  
"Where's Junior?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Still snoozin'" Sean said  
  
"Hey guys, we've got to go like right now" Joanna said  
  
"What? Why?" Jonathan asked  
  
"So we can get out of here before anything happens, at least that's what he said" Joanna told them  
  
"You coming Mel?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Yeah, okay… I don't know what else I can do. Since it's free, I'm not going to knock it back" Mel said  
  
"I better wake Junior then" Sean said  
  
Walking into the room he approached Junior quietly.   
  
"Hey buddy you gotta get up" Sean said quietly   
  
Junior opened his eyes and then suddenly jumped tackling Sean to the ground  
  
"Huh!? Oh Sean, so sorry…" Junior said getting off Sean  
  
"Good morning to you too…" Sean replied as he stood up  
  
"So, what's going on?" Junior asked  
  
"We gotta go like right now" Sean told him  
  
"Well whatever, let's go" Junior said  
  
They all moved out and Joanna and Velvet carried Trent into Carrington's private plane. Generally he would be on the plane himself but not this time.   
  
"Hey can I use Trent as a footrest again as Jon and I catch up on sleep?" Mel asked  
  
"Nah, we can't" Joanna replied as she put the unconscious body of Trent in a seat.   
  
"Damn" Mel said clicking his fingers  
  
"Say what about Mary? Wasn't she after Trent too?" Jonathan asked  
  
"Yeah but she agreed to let us talk to him first because once he's in her hands there is no escape for him and the President, so she's just saying that she hasn't caught Trent yet while spending a quick holiday. She'll come for him again in a two days which is more then enough time to get what we want from him" Sean said  
  
The plane took off and because Jonathan and Mel hadn't slept all night they went to sleep while they went back to the Institute.   
  
On arrival at the Hangar they went in, and headed directly to Carrington's office.  
  
"Welcome back everybody" Carrington said  
  
"Thank you sir" Joanna replied  
  
"Hello to you Sean…" Carrington said.   
  
"Hello…" Sean said looking at any sudden movements from Carrington  
  
"Are you alright?" Carrington asked  
  
"Yeah" Sean breathed a bit  
  
"And Melvin I take it?" Carrington asked  
  
"Yes, sir" Mel replied  
  
"Jonathan tells me you helped us, at some self cost" Carrington said  
  
"Yes sir" Mel repeated  
  
"Well if you take the device down to the labs on this floor I'm sure they may be able to go into exactly what it is you have. Jonathan take him there would you?" Carrington asked  
  
"Certainly" Jonathan replied  
  
"Oh before you do may have a look at the device?" Carrington asked  
  
Mel nodded handed it to Carrington, he studied it for about 10 seconds before handing back.  
  
"Very well" Carrington nodded as Jonathan and Mel left  
  
"Junior, I see your small problem, if you'd like you could have it fixed right now" Carrington said  
  
"Well, that's the thing, I'm not sure I do" Junior said  
  
"Yes, I thought you might say that… and I don't blame you, so I'm leaving the decision entirely up to you" Carrington replied "However, if you don't mind I just want to see how smart you are… whether your experience increased your intelligence to the age you are supposed to be or not" Carrington said  
  
"I guess not, is it hard?" Junior asked  
  
"It might be, it might not be… that's what I want to find out" Carrington told him  
  
"What if I fail" Junior said  
  
"You can't fail it is impossible, and don't worry regardless of the result the decision is still up you" Carrington said  
  
"Well okay" Junior took the piece of paper and pen off Carrington reluctantly  
  
"Go to the room next door, you shouldn't be disturbed" Carrington told him  
  
"Alright…" Junior left the room  
  
"Why do you still do tests by pen and paper" Joanna said   
  
"Because, I like to… I just don't like looking on a computer screen for results" Carrington replied  
  
"What kind of test did you give him?" Velvet asked  
  
"It's two papers, one a basic test for his supposed to be age group, the second the entrance test for the Institute, you'd all know it since you've all taken it" Carrington replied  
  
"You mean you haven't changed the test? Ever?" Sean asked  
  
"No, it is still effective so why change it" Carrington said   
  
"Is there anything you wish to tell us?" Joanna asked  
  
"Not yet, after Junior and Mel both finish I'll call you back" Carrington said as the three walked out the door.  
  
At the cafeteria Velvet, Joanna and Sean sat and just had something quick to eat.  
  
"Where'd they put Trent?" Velvet asked  
  
"Oh they locked him in one of the cells, there are only a few down around the hangar like about 3 I think" Joanna said  
  
"Fair enough" Velvet replied as she sipped some juice.  
  
They began talking about Trent while Sean was staring outside the window.   
  
While at the device lab…  
  
"Very interesting… so Melvin you say?" Wendy asked while looking at the device  
  
"Yes" Mel replied  
  
"Alright, I'll be sure to look at it. I think I know what this is but I'll just confirm it" Wendy said   
  
"Thank you…" Mel said as he and Jonathan walked off   
  
As they headed back to Carrington's office they started talking.  
  
"Hang on, you wouldn't get off it before so why the change of heart now?" Jonathan asked  
  
"That was more my brother, this is kinda what I intended, and I know I could have convinced him eventually. She seems to know what it is, but I wonder what it could be, why did dataDyne have it in such a secure location?" Mel asked  
  
They walked into Carrington's office, and only found Carrington.  
  
"Ah, Junior shouldn't be much longer then I'll call the others back, so take a seat" Carrington said  
  
Both sat down  
  
"Sir, can you tell me what that device is? Do you know?" Mel asked  
  
Carrington laughed "Alright, you are impatient… but I do think I know… and I bet Wendy said the same" Carrington said  
  
"Is it valuable?" Mel asked  
  
"In the wrong hands… it could have been disastrous so yes…" Carrington said  
  
"I saw one in Area 51 but I couldn't get it because it meant blowing my cover" Jonathan said  
  
"How could it be disastrous, is it a remote or something to blow something else up?" Mel asked  
  
"No, no, not that kind of disastrous. In another way… but…" Carrington stopped as he saw the door open.  
  
"Hello everybody" Elvis said walking in  
  
Mel just stared at Elvis…everybody else was silent  
  
"What do I not get a hello? Isn't it customary on this planet to say hello back?" Elvis asked   
  
"Elvis… come outside for a moment would you" Jonathan said   
  
Just then the door opened again and Junior came in… he did the same as Mel and stared at Elvis.   
  
"Oh… now I get it" Elvis said "So sorry"  
  
"Yes… not everybody knows of your kind, I know what I said to you, that you could walk around Earth soon enough but the politics slowed that process down" Carrington said folding his arms "Although now it has happened and there is nothing we can do about it…both of you, what we discuss in this room, must stay in this room until further notice" Carrington said  
  
Mel and Junior nodded  
  
"Now listen, as you can obviously tell Elvis is from another race that does not live on this planet… known as the Maians… it had been a strictly kept secret only known by myself. Only about 10 years ago, more people started become more involved with the Maians, mainly people that worked here. Keep this a secret from everybody, only people who work here really know of their existence" Carrington said firmly.   
  
Mel and Junior only nodded again.  
  
"Anyway, hello Elvis. I guess after we cleared that up, sort of… I'm glad to see you" Carrington said  
  
"You had something to tell me…" Elvis said  
  
"Yes, but let's call the others in…" Carrington pressed a button underneath his desk.   
  
Within 2 minutes Joanna, Velvet and Sean had returned.  
  
"Err… hi Elvis" Sean said  
  
"Hello" Elvis replied in his cheerful way  
  
"Don't worry about the other two, I did my 30 second speech on Maians" Carrington said  
  
Sean nodded as they all sat down around Carrington's table.  
  
"Anyway, Junior first let me look at the test" Carrington took the papers from Junior. He scanned them for about 15 seconds and looked up.   
  
"So, how did I go?" Junior asked nervously  
  
"Better then I thought… this is very impressive. You have a good enough score to move onto the next stage for working at the Institute if you wanted" Carrington chuckled  
  
Junior breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Hey, I said it didn't matter anyway, and it was your decision" Carrington said  
  
"I know, but I didn't want to be influenced to make a decision" Junior replied  
  
"Very well…" Carrington said  
  
"Wait, do you mind introducing me?" Elvis asked  
  
"Haha, of course not. This is Elvis of course, and the one sitting next to Sean is Junior Easton, and before you ask yes, he's Trent's kid but more on that later. The guy sitting next to Jonathan is Melvin, I'm sorry I don't have your last name" Carrington said  
  
"Its Moratana" Melvin said  
  
"Thank you, so now we all know each other?" Carrington asked  
  
"Who's that?" Jonathan joked motioning towards Joanna  
  
"Very funny…" Joanna rolled her eyes  
  
"Moving on" Carrington said as a beeping sound went off "What could it be now?" Carrington asked a little in frustration as he pressed another button on his computer.  
  
"Yes?" Carrington said  
  
"The device is what I thought it was, a Maian communicator, how it ended up in dataDyne's hands I don't know" Wendy's voice came through  
  
"I think I do" Jonathan said "When the Maians were shot down in Nevada stuff was taken and experimented on, since I never got it out, dataDyne still had it" Jonathan finished  
  
"Assuming they only got one, they may have more then one. If dataDyne ever at one point had the right kind of power charge to use it, then the secret would be revealed, and unlike before they would have proof instead of dead Maian bodies that everybody believed thankfully was only some kind of sick joke. It is getting out of hand now. The President, he said that he would tell people about Maians on one condition." Carrington said  
  
"That condition is?" Joanna asked  
  
"That somebody starts a business… a business that employs humans and Maians worldwide. It would get funded of course, at least at first" Carrington said  
  
"But why can't the Institute qualify? Also why a business, I don't understand that" Jonathan said  
  
"That's not a good idea due to the connection we have already, we are supposed to give everybody a fair shot at this experience to make it more acceptable to quote directly. It has to be a business because it allows humans and Maians to work together. Although nobody is quite sure how that would work" Carrington said   
  
There was a long silence…  
  
"I guess you are hinting at me to run it huh?" Sean asked  
  
"Well… to be honest… yes…" Carrington said  
  
"Why Sean, not that I mind" Joanna asked  
  
"Because I am the only one who speaks Maian and is human" Sean replied answering her question  
  
"Exactly… which is also why I didn't want you running off. I knew about this sometime ago but didn't want to ask you, I wanted to see if another solution would appear. Although when you said you were leaving I tried to stop you… a little too hard" Carrington said  
  
"I don't know, it's not really me that kind of thing…" Sean said  
  
"You don't want to give up your life again. I know that… Which is why I tried to find another way. It won't take long, maybe 3 months you will be needed, at least until Elvis teaches the Maians to speak English, then you can make your appearances a lot less… I don't know, but will you do it?" Carrington said almost begging.   
  
"Okay… I will, I know it means a lot to you…" Sean sighed, he didn't really want to but he knew that something worse could happen, if somebody did organise the other side of dataDyne and somehow reveal Carrington's secret it would be much worse.   
  
"Thanks so much, we'll be sure to make the company like this place and Andy's dataDyne put together so to speak, just to give you a rough idea" Carrington said  
  
"Well at least you aren't asking me to bake bread or something else I know nothing about. Can I go now?" Sean asked  
  
"Yes of course, come back in about 3 hours we'll discuss it a bit more" Carrington said  
  
"I'll go with you" Junior stood up   
  
Sean nodded  
  
"Before you leave, what's your decision, you can wait, but keep in mind you are still gaining time in your younger self" Carrington asked  
  
"I know it may not be good for me but I want to think about it for longer, it seems stupid but I always wanted to be able to defend myself instead of relying on others to do it for me" Junior said  
  
"Well as I said it's your call, I'll see you later" Carrington said   
  
Sean and Junior left  
  
"What!?" Joanna shouted  
  
"What's the matter Jo?" Velvet asked  
  
"Junior scored better on the test then I did!" Joanna said as she read the paper  
  
"Of course Jo, his mind was enhanced by the Skedar technology… and if I remember rightly Joanna you didn't even finish that test, I called you out before you finished it" Carrington said  
  
"Oh… that's right" Joanna smiled again  
  
"You really don't like losing do you" Jonathan smiled at Joanna  
  
"Skedar? I've heard that word a few times before, what does it mean?" Mel asked  
  
"Well… it's… another alien race, they are gone on the most part now but they were in war with the Maians for a very long time" Carrington said  
  
"So there is another world happening, and everybody is completely oblivious to it?" Mel asked  
  
"Indeed… but hopefully not for long" Carrington said  
  
-----  
  
Sean went down to leave the Institute. He pressed the key lock and unlocked the hoverbike.  
  
"Can you ride these? Did you learn that?" Sean asked  
  
"Of course, I just hope I don't drive like a lunatic to avoid the non existent explosions" Junior replied giving a smile as he and Sean got on two different hoverbikes.  
  
"Where to?" Junior asked  
  
"Who knows" Sean replied  
  
They went out into the street which was still in the middle of nowhere. After the attack 8 years ago the Institute moved to a more deserted location. Then an idea hit him. He pulled out his communicator and talked to Carrington. Junior didn't hear what was said but could tell Sean was happy based on the smile he gave.   
  
-----  
  
Jonathan, Joanna, Velvet went into the cafeteria for some late dinner.   
  
"Hey Jonathan" Foster was munching on a sandwich of some kind.   
  
"Hi Foster" Jonathan said  
  
"Where's your friend?" Foster asked  
  
"What friend?" Jonathan said  
  
"The guy you went to the device lab with" Foster said  
  
"I think he's having a look around with somebody…" Jonathan said  
  
-----  
  
In the simulant training room  
  
"Take that dataDyne scum…" Mel kicked one of the holograms into the wall, even though it was a hologram it crashed into the wall heavily and yelped in pain.   
  
"And this…" Mel continued as he leaped over another hologram by the shoulders and slide backwards after landing on the other side tripping the hologram. "And finally… this!" Mel shouted as he parried the kick done by the third hologram and twisted it causing the hologram to shout out before Mel let it go to the ground.  
  
"Very well done… want more?" Jenny the woman in the hologram room asked  
  
"Yes please… great anger release… I thought this would be packed with people stressed from the Institute" Mel said  
  
"Every section has its own way of stress management" Jenny replied  
  
-----  
  
20 minutes later…  
  
In the firing range…  
  
"Damn stupid gun… screw this" Foster put down his experimental weapon and started blowing all the targets up with a rocket launcher.  
  
-----  
  
In Carrington's office…  
  
"Got you right in the eye Cassie… ah then you Easton" Carrington used the crossbow at the dart board that had pictures of Cassandra, Trent, Mr. Blonde, Grimshaw, a Skedar warrior and once the dataDyne headquarters Lucerne tower constantly spinning around. Eventually Carrington ran out of crossbow bolts and threw a remote mine at the dart board and set it off… a smile crossed his face and a new dart board with the same pictures came up as Carrington reloaded the crossbow and started over.  
  
-----  
  
In the device lab  
  
"Grimshaw, I want to test this new device, would you volunteer?" Wendy asked   
  
"Sure" Grimshaw replied as he had no idea what he was in for.  
  
"Go in there and wait for the lights to turn out" Wendy smiled  
  
"Okay" Grimshaw walked into the room and the lights turned off  
  
"Now turn on the night vision" Wendy said  
  
Grimshaw did so  
  
"Now you have to press the 3 light switches on each of the walls" Wendy continued  
  
Grimshaw then touched the 3 light switches, he didn't quite understand except when he finished the lights didn't come back on.  
  
"Wendy it didn't work" Grimshaw called out  
  
"It's not supposed to, now put your hands all over your face and turn off the night vision" Wendy said  
  
"Why do I want to do that for?" Grimshaw asked  
  
"It will make you invisible" Wendy explained  
  
"Riiight…" Grimshaw did as he was told and Wendy turned on the lights. She had a big grin, she couldn't hold it.  
  
"What?" Grimshaw asked  
  
"Nothing…" Wendy giggled  
  
Grimshaw felt something funny on his face, he then went to look in one of the mirrors and saw pink, black and yellow paint all over his face and hands. If it wasn't for the paint on his face he would have turned red as he chased Wendy around the room who was still laughing.  
  
-----  
  
2 hours later in Hacker Central  
  
"Let's see how she likes this…" Grimshaw said as he readied the Camspy. The latest version was invisible as long as it didn't take a picture but he could still see in front of him like normal. He directed it into the device lab using the passageways that connected the device lab and Hacker central. Wendy was typing at her computer. Grimshaw smiled as he crept the Camspy closer.  
  
"Now I just have to find the right position" Grimshaw said to himself as he directed the Camspy upwards and around to her face, Wendy seemed completely oblivious to the fact she was being spied on. Grimshaw then felt a tapping at his shoulder.  
  
"Nice view you got there" A voice said  
  
"Thanks… want me to go closer?" Grimshaw asked   
  
"I think that's close enough" The voice replied  
  
Grimshaw turned around and saw Wendy   
  
"ARGGGGGH! But how! You are in there!!" Grimshaw screamed  
  
"Quite clearly I am not, but I suggest you don't try what you did again for your own good" Wendy said  
  
"Party pooper" Grimshaw folded his arms as Wendy left. He then looked at the other Wendy on his camspy screen and went right through it, it was a stupid hologram.  
  
-----  
  
Jonathan had to test with Foster which normally was quite enjoyable but when ever Foster was feeling inventive it was extremely boring, he was relieved when both of them were called up to Carrington's office. On arrival, Sean had returned with Junior as well as somebody he didn't know and Joanna, Velvet and Elvis where present as well. He wondered who this person who was sitting next to Sean.  
  
"Foster, Jonathan take a seat" Carrington told them "Firstly, the company will be based in Japan… the President said that in negotiations with other nations they voted on where it should be and Japan got the most. The name of the company which Elvis and I created a while back is called Humaian, it's exactly what the company is.   
  
"So we are going to Japan?" Sean asked  
  
"Seems that way" Carrington replied "Provided your friend Juan does not mind" Carrington said  
  
"Mind? No way… I'm in for experiences" Juan said   
  
"In addition, Foster you have said to me you wanted to work with Maians in weaponry so here is your opportunity" Carrington said  
  
"Thank you sir, but I like to work here" Foster replied  
  
"It will only be temporary unless you like it there" Carrington said "The pay will be a lot better I assure you"   
  
"Well then I'm in" Foster smiled  
  
"Excellent. I have full faith in the Maians of course, I'm not so trusting of our own kind so the more people we can get in that we know and trust, the better" Carrington said  
  
The others nodded in agreement   
  
"So of course, the rest of us like Velvet and Jonathan will still be here?" Joanna asked  
  
"Oh yes, most definitely, I still need you guys" Carrington replied  
  
Joanna nodded  
  
"There is one other thing…" Carrington started  
  
Everybody looked at him  
  
"I have kept this secret from everybody. Now it is time for you to be told. There is another alien race… I am almost certain of it…" Carrington said  
  
-----  
  
No real cliffhanger this time telling the secret… but how certain can Carrington be? Will the plan for the Maians to be known on Earth flop like Grimshaw's attempt to get a good photo of Wendy? 


	13. Another race?

Cristalina: Ha, you know you can ask me silly questions cus I have loads of info on Perfect Dark. For Junior yeah, that'd be weird...but I think the fact you are suddenly stronger and you are looking people in the eye without looking up would be more noticeable. Joanna's hair, well... I dunno actually... it is supposed to be brown in the game, but yup in those pictures she's definitely a red head. So sorry to disappoint you... I'm glad you liked the Institute stress release session. My personal favourite was Carrington and the dart board.

Spiderbear: Yeah much laughter... and no Sean's dream was already reflected in the same chapter, so no evil Carrington.

On with the story? Yes? Okies...

Joanna, Velvet and Jonathan exchanged looks at what Carrington had just told them.

"Juan, Melvin, Junior, could you please leave for a moment, not that I can't trust you but you know..." Carrington smiled which basically meant he didn't want to tell them "Feel free to explore the Institute"

The three nodded and walked out.

"Are you certain? We've looked for new races for thousands of years" Elvis said

"Then how do you explain this" Carrington opened his safe.

He got something from it and threw 4 pieces of paper onto the desk, Elvis picked up one.

"But Mr. Carrington, this is a Maian" Elvis chuckled

"Of course it is... look at all the pictures... one is the outline of a Maian, the second is the outline of a human, the third is the outline of a Skedar but this fourth one what do you think?" He passed the paper in question to Elvis

Jonathan looked at it over Elvis' shoulder. The best way to describe it was a wolf's head but a lion's body. However it was only the shape as the photo was blackened out to highlight the body.

"Where did you find this?" Elvis asked

"An agent of mine, he used some tracking device to find it after I detected something that wasn't from this land, much like the message I got when the Skedar landed but then not move where it landed. However after finding it and sending the picture to me he didn't send another report, I can only assume he is dead because after I sent another agent to look for him, she found nothing, nothing at all" Carrington said

"Is this creature in the picture alive or dead?" Elvis asked

"I'm not sure, I think it was alive, there was something in his voice over the radio though, something was distracting him and I'm certain it wasn't the Alaskan cold" Carrington said

"Wait, we first made contact near there right?" Elvis asked

"Yes why?" Carrington said

"We agreed on that location because it is the easiest place to land undetected... my landing would have been a quiet success if the Skedar didn't intercept the message" Elvis said

"So you are suggesting that this yet unnamed creature had a planned landing?" Carrington asked

"Yes" Elvis replied

"Thing is though, I didn't detect any more after my agent went missing... but there could be more, the Skedar learned how to evade the signal system I had" Carrington thought out

"Let me guess, it was at night too... the two combined would make it almost impossible to see anything" Jonathan pointed out

"Yes, hence the bad quality of the photo, the inside of the creature doesn't even show despite the scan, I was lucky to get it this good" Carrington said  
"What should we do?" Joanna asked

"What can we do, we searched the area and found nothing, we no longer detect any reading of a non human, non Maian on the planet. I didn't want to alarm you before... but I think it's time I lose the old habit of keeping secrets... generally there are some things you are better not knowing but this information I guess we could class it as need to know, if something like this happens again we'll know what to look for" Carrington said

"I will report at once to let the Maians know of this" Elvis said

"Good... as for the rest of you don't be surprised if I call you up for a sudden assignment..." Carrington stood up from his chair and everybody else followed.

"And that's different to normal because..." Joanna said. Velvet smiled slightly but tried to not to laugh.

Carrington ignored it "With Sean starting up soon and we still need to remove the remaining parts of the smaller parts of the old dataDyne we need to make sure that there aren't any other things around that are willing to be harmful to us. Another dataDyne plus alien alliance isn't going to be good" Carrington said in a serious tone "You are dismissed" Carrington went back to his desk.

"Man, that was different, I couldn't have imagined my friend was so involved with aliens" Juan said

"Yeah... I officially no longer understand anything that's going on..." Junior said

"Best think to do is not to think about it or try work it out... I learned to let things happen rather then worry about something that's going to happen anyway" Mel looked around the Institute

"I'm going to see their lab department, and see all the cool stuff they build" Juan walked off

Junior and Mel stopped at the elevator.

"Say Trent is being held here for questioning isn't he" Mel said a grin forming on his face

"But he's under guard, so why that smile?" Junior asked

"Oh I forgot he's your father..." Mel sighed

"A fact I hate to be reminded of" Junior said as they got on the elevator

"Well never mind then, I'm going to look in the firing range" Mel said

"Alright... I think I'll eat something; I seem to want to eat more... I wonder how much I weigh now..." Junior thought out...

"What? That's a pretty strange thing to say..." Mel seemed a little freaked out

"Oh, I just can't get used to it... but it does feel cooler... most of the time... being older..." Junior said

"What are you talking about, being older sucks... more responsibility, having more expected out you and you can't fool around anymore, well not as much... and what do you mean you can't get used to it... you must be 17 at least..." Mel said

"Well, actually I'm really only 8... Trent did some kind of thing to me to make me gain 10 years when he captured me a few days back... so... that's why I could say things that sound really weird" Junior laughed slightly

"There is no end to his madness and the things he will do, even to his own son" Mel said

"Well, like you said, I try not to think about it too much..." Junior replied and walked off.

Mel stood outside the elevator... since the Institute probably wasn't going to give him justice, he decided he would deliver some justice himself.

He looked at one of the Institute maps on the wall... he figured Trent would be held in a cell somewhere... scanning the map he found the cells on the lower levels but there were only 3, they were near the hangar.

Mel went down to the hangar and somebody was cleaning the floors there.

"What'd you want..." the man grumbled

"Nothing... just looking around..." Mel replied

"Well don't touch anything, I just cleaned up" He said in a real low tone

"You really like your job don't you..." Mel rolled his eyes

"Oh yeah, it is soo much fun... just get lost I'm busy" He grumbled again

Mel wondered what was with him, but he guessed cleaning and maintaining the hangar would be an annoying and long job. He continued down the pathways... and headed for the area clearly marked prison. There was some instinct that told him it was new, it was too clean perhaps. He saw a guard sitting in front of the one of the cells.

"That's the one that holds Trent I bet" Mel thought to himself

He continued to walk up but the guard stood up.

"Who are you... nobody except authorised Institute personal is allowed down here" the guard said

Mel continued to walk

"Halt! Or I'll call security" He ordered

"At ease, I've been told by Mr. Carrington to give you this" Mel said with something in his hand

"Oh... what is it?" The guard opened his hand as if to accept what Mel was holding

"This!" Mel grabbed the guard's hand hard causing him to shout out before kicking him in the head then it the stomach before elbowing him in the face again then another blow to the stomach causing the guard to hold it in pain and Mel knocked the guard on the head with an overhead kick to knock him out.

"Yeah... at ease... loser" Mel laughed

Trent looked at Mel outside, and Mel looked at Trent in return pacing backwards and forwards... he then scanned the walls...

"What are you doing here?" Trent said in a much less cocky tone that Mel was used to hearing. It made him smile further, but he didn't answer Trent.

"Shit!" Mel shouted out when he realised that the guard had only feinted being knocked out and ran towards the alarm however before he got there somebody else came in and gave the guard another hit. This time he fell to the ground and was clearly knocked out.

"Lucky for you I stopped by" Junior replied

"Hey can you find the keys, for the cell, I can't find them in here" Mel asked

Junior nodded as he took the keys off a belt the guard was wearing.

"All too easy" Junior smiled, Mel looked slightly embarrassed at the ease Junior found the keys

"Why'd you come though... you didn't seem interested before" Mel asked trying to change the subject

"You'll see..." Junior walked up to the cell door holding Trent putting the keys in the lock turning it and it opened.

The door opened and Junior walked in and Mel followed. Trent went very pale as he saw the two people who in their minds hated him above anything else.

"I guess you want to go first" Junior asked in an annoyed tone hatred growing in his eyes... overwhelming his calm nature.

Mel thought, he looked into saw Junior's eyes; he didn't have any idea of his reasons for hating Trent aside using him as a human guinea pig but if he knew Trent as well as he thought he did, there was surely much more then that between them.

"I think you'd better" Mel said.

Junior looked at Mel surprised, the darkness leaving his eyes. "Are you sure?" Junior asked

"Yeah..." Mel sighed...

Junior then turned his attention to Trent; Mel simply sat on the one of the walls looking amused as Junior went to strangle his much weaker father, still weak from the drug.

"How could you... why did you... you destroyed everything... even when help arrived you went ahead and destroyed that too!" Junior shouted at Trent. Trent couldn't say anything even if he wanted to.

He tried to get out a few words but it came out as only a few desperate sounds to breathe.

"What?" Junior released his grip a bit...

"You... know..." Trent said slowly

"Know what! Speak up!" Junior ordered

"Your mother... she's still alive..." Trent breathed out...

Junior stopped strangling Trent

"That can't be true, I saw her die!" Junior replied "All because you were jealous of Andy... why do that for... he had nothing to do with you... he only cared about Mum and me... yet you couldn't handle that she could have wanted another man COULD you" Junior said accusingly

"Maybe if you had waited a little longer, help came that very day" Trent said

"Lies... Andy didn't know she was dead when Sean and I told him, he knew nothing about what had happened" Junior replied. He wanted to hurt Trent, but something inside was stopping him.

"Who said the help was from Elcallaran" Trent replied, some of the cockiness that was considered normal to his voice began to return

"What are you talking about!?" Junior said... Mel began to look concerned, he didn't know what was going on but he knew Trent was trying to talk his way out of the punishment.

"There were plenty of people concerned about your mother, but I couldn't exactly use my power now to force them to back off as I was no longer head of the NSA. Instead I just gave some of the underground gangs and stuff more power by giving them weapons in exchange for trashing the town making it unliveable, scaring away any help she may have got. However that day, the day you came to my office, the Carrington institute agents cleaned them out, so as soon as that happened and word got out help arrived on your door step. But you couldn't stay there; because you were too driven by revenge... you had some stupid plan in mind to get me back... how!? An 8 year old child infiltrates a top security building and kills somebody that not even the US Government could touch? Yeah right..." Trent laughed mockingly "Then again you are my son, so I should expect nothing less out of you" Trent said  
Junior snapped and went to attack Trent again, but Trent raised his arm as if to stop Junior.

"Don't you want to hear more? There goes the Easton nature again, further amplified by what I have put into you action first, thinking later" Trent said

Junior stopped again.

"Dude, he's playing with you like a yo-yo ... don't listen to him" Mel said annoyed

"I think you'll want to hear this... however you've got to make your own choice" Trent said losing the confidence in his voice but only to make it seem that Junior was the one in control.

However Junior tried not to let Trent into his mind, as he went to put as much pain into him as possible.

"Hmm... strange how I haven't received the report on Easton's condition yet" Carrington said as he checked the cameras to see if anything was wrong. What he saw shocked him.

"Oh my...!" Carrington said in shock before pressing a button on his computer.

"Yes?" Jonathan answered  
"Joanna here" Joanna picked up, both picking up from two different locations

"Go down the cells as quick as you can!" Carrington ordered

"What did Trent escape?" Joanna sounded alarmed

"No... Junior and Melvin are down there giving him their own version of an interrogation" Carrington replied

"Okay I'm on it" Jonathan said

"If Easton dies, the President is not going to be happy" Carrington replied

"Yes sir" Joanna said as she and Jonathan went down to the hangar.

"Please just listen!" Trent begged as Junior stomped on his stomach and then kicked him

Junior didn't reply... he let Trent recover a little.

"I'm sure it won't be hard to find her... just ooooowwwah" Trent screamed in pain as Junior landed another blow. Junior breathed in and out.

Then alarms sounded...

"Looks like they are on to you guys... you better hear me out, you may not get another chance" Trent said

Junior looked towards Mel for support... he barely knew him, but if he weren't there he possibly could have believed anything Trent had told him that gave him hope. However Mel only shrugged giving him a 'believe what you want to believe look'. Mel already thought he had stepped too far into the matter, he didn't really know if Trent was telling the truth or not but knowing Trent probably not.

"Your mother was given help, by some old friends of hers when I was married to her, after gossip passed through their group as it often did they came and saw her that same day, the door was open because you left it that way, on seeing her they knew that they were too late, until she made a sound, well at least that's what I was told. They called for assistance and she was taken to hospital and then given the vital treatment she needed. Quite costly but easily affordable for those rich girls..." Trent finished that sentence

Junior remained silent

"That's a great story... but how do you know all this?" Mel asked, he decided to step in looking at Junior... who seemed to be very confused...

"Also, how come they didn't look for me, and I don't remember such a group of friends, the only person I really knew aside Mum was Andy" Junior said

"Firstly a spy I had on her... of course he's dead now... I recalled him the day after that report so he could guard you, Trent Easton Junior, from any intruders..." Trent said.

"However he died last night when the Institute raided the building. Secondly as I said, this was a social group just before your mother married me and a short time after so you didn't really exist yet. I blocked their contact and any contact from her which included Elcallaran, all because she threatened to go blabbing about certain things she wasn't supposed to hear" Trent said "I couldn't just kill or capture her, that would raise too much suspicion so I had to force her to make it seem she had to hide from me to protect you" Trent told him

Junior was angered at Trent; however could there be truth in his story? Why would he make up a story when he knew that somebody was coming to stop them? It could be true at least some of it. His logical mind of course told him that he checked his mother and he was certain that she was gone... but there was this ever annoying 'what if' in his mind... it was hope... the only thing he could hold onto.

"Why are you telling me this?" Junior asked after a long silence

"Alright that's enough guys..." Jonathan said standing outside the cell turning off the alarm

Junior turned around and so did Mel. Both were frustrated, Junior didn't get the entire answer out of his father and Mel never got his revenge they walked outside the cell. Trent looked slightly relieved

"Don't get too relaxed Easton, you still have us to deal with..." Joanna gave Trent a glare

Joanna relocked the door and they walked a good distance away.

"We told you not to hurt Trent, and you deliberately ignored that, you're both lucky you didn't get shot or something by the guard!" Joanna shouted out

"Joanna... hold up..." Jonathan said

"Don't tell me to hold up!" Joanna replied

"Think of it from their perspective... I bet you would have done the same... especially with your shoot first, think later mentality" Jonathan said calmly

Joanna sighed "I suppose... but it doesn't give them the right to do what they want. Sure I would have loved to have shot Easton to pieces but I know I can't so I learn to control myself..." Joanna said

"And you really showed your ability to control yourself that was really effective in Area 51; I'm sure every guard knew exactly where you were" Jonathan said there was a bit of coldness in his voice. Joanna was slightly surprised by it

"Whose side are you on here?" Joanna asked trying not to show her surprise

"You are missing the point here, can I speak to you about this later... for now let's just go back to the cafeteria" Jonathan said

"You aren't taking them up to Carrington?" Joanna asked

Jonathan ignored her as he took them back up to the cafeteria

He walked into the cafeteria and Sean was still sitting there as he had been for most of the time he was at the Institute, staring out the window, staring at the sky and the trees.

"I heard what happened..." Sean said looking at Jonathan, Joanna, Junior and Mel enter the room.

"Can I leave them with you for a second... "Jonathan said  
Sean nodded as Jonathan and Joanna left the cafeteria.

"What is your problem" Joanna said

"Don't you get it Jo, they know at least a few of Carrington secrets... if we are all harsh on them... who knows what they could do, who they could tell... and personally I wouldn't have stopped them. I know very well they wouldn't have killed Trent" Jonathan said

Joanna raised an eye brow

"Okay you are right about not being harsh on them, but what makes you so sure they wouldn't have killed him" Joanna asked

"Melvin told me, he just wanted to make Trent feel his pain, he wanted to deliver it himself, killing him would be pointless as he believes it won't do any good anyway. Even if he isn't executed by the legal system, life in jail would be far worse for somebody like Trent. Junior has too much of a calm nature, he would want answers out of Trent he would want Trent to talk and stuff, so he's not going to kill him either" Jonathan answered

Joanna thought for a moment

"You are smarter then you look Jonathan" Joanna said

"Well whatever" Jonathan replied

"What no sarcastic comment?" Joanna smiled

"Don't push your luck..." Jonathan said

Joanna laughed "No, I won't..." she then looked into Jonathan's eyes "Is anything wrong?" Joanna asked. She just noticed that he hadn't cracked one joke ever since they had returned. As for as Joanna was concerned this was some kind of record for Jonathan. It almost worried her. It did worry her.

"Nah... I'm fine..." Jonathan walked away quietly.

A few hours passed and Joanna went up Carrington's office, she was now convinced there was something wrong with Jonathan, she asked Sean but he just shrugged. Velvet talked to Jonathan a bit but she didn't seem to know anything either... She didn't really want to bother Carrington with it but she did care about Jonathan's well being, she couldn't really understand it. Joanna knocked on the door.

"Come in" Carrington answered

Joanna walked in.

"Hello Joanna" Carrington said

"Hi" Joanna replied

There was a silence

"So... what did you come to see me about?" Carrington asked breaking the silence

"Do you know where Jonathan is?" Joanna was in the room now; she thought it would look stupid if she lied, especially because 9 times out of 10 Carrington knew when any of his agents were lying.

"Well... Agent Dark, not exactly" Carrington said, his facial expression changed.

"What do you mean by that?" Joanna asked surprised... it was a general curious question why did he turn all serious... Joanna thought

"He is fine of course, but he's not in the Institute" Carrington replied

"He just seemed to be acting strangely today, ever since we got back, he hasn't cracked one joke" Joanna said

Carrington smiled "Don't worry, Jonathan will be back to normal tomorrow" Carrington said

"So there is something going on..." Joanna said

Carrington sighed... but didn't answer Joanna as he went back to his computer. Joanna nodded taking that a sigh as a yes but I'm not telling you anything and walked out but she stopped at the door

"Sir?" She said

"Yes?" He replied

"Did you do anything regarding Melvin and Junior" Joanna asked

"No Agent Dark. I'll be sure to talk to Trent tonight... so you can expect a lot of info tomorrow, but as you seem to be bored..." Carrington started

"An assignment?" Joanna asked

"Of a kind... you don't have to do it as this isn't one of your stronger areas even for you Perfect Dark, but if you could it would be greatly appreciated" Carrington told her

"What is it?" Joanna looked at him puzzled

"Junior after talking to Trent seems to think there is a remote chance of his mother being alive... I'm sure Grimshaw would be only too happy to help you find out if there is any truth in that..." Carrington said

"But sir, Grimshaw isn't in today" Joanna gave a sigh of relief in her mind, but she was sure Carrington knew what she was thinking. Joanna hated very few things about the Institute and working with Grimshaw while he is looking over her shoulder was one of them.

"You don't miss anything do you Joanna" Carrington said

"Not much" Joanna said. Although in truth she only knew that because she looked in there for Jonathan.

"So you can work on your own, you are more then capable of looking up records" Carrington said

"Okay thank you sir" Joanna walked off

Why was she so concerned about him anyway, it's not like he was ever worried about her. Wait... there was that one time... okay two times... three even? Joanna removed those thoughts from her head... maybe this assignment would get her mind of it, but looking up computer records and stuff wasn't her thing, but she didn't HAVE to do it... it wasn't of any importance.

She went to the computer, where would she start... she didn't really know... how would she find out. She was just so used to be able to pull her data Uplink out and for Grimshaw or Carrington to give her the answers.

"I wonder what games they got on the computers?" A voice asked

"Probably none, I bet Mr. Carrington deleted them all... or just Solitaire and other things... you know I heard something really strange a while back?" a second voice said

"What?" The first voice asked

"That Solitaire has been on computers for more then 30 years or something" The second voice said

"Wow... that's incredible, why is it still on there..." The first voice seemed to be getting closer and the door to hacker central opened.

"I dunno" Mel said as Joanna turned her attention to him.

"Oh Hi Joanna, I thought nobody was in here" Junior said, she could have sworn Mel was giving her a dirty look of some kind.

"That's alright, I was just leaving" Joanna said  
"Damn, they got no games on these, not even Solitaire" Mel grumbled

"Wait... you said something about being sort of good at computers right?" Junior asked

"Well I'm alright..." Mel said

"Could you search for any information, like anything relating to..." Junior started

"Your mother?" Mel interrupted

Joanna suddenly paid attention to conversation...

"Yeah...I know it sounds stupid to believe him, but... I just want to remove any doubts in my mind" Junior said

"You know what I think, but I can understand that... it shouldn't be too hard..." Mel said as he started to type and click away.

"Wait... you think you can do this?" Joanna asked him

"Do this? Well let's see... ah that's it... easy" Mel said proudly

"That fast!?" Joanna asked shocked

"Well, it's a story on the news websites and stuff... of course it was easy to find..." Mel said

Junior stared at the page. He read down the story. A woman who according to her friends is named Jessica Easton was recovered from her home and revived due the thoughtful acts of her 5 friends who happened to visit her that day. Not having the money herself to afford the necessary treatment her 5 friends contributed towards the cost and she was operated on. According to her friends they lost contact when she married former NSA head Trent Easton, but they have been long since divorced. However the authorities do not know the whereabouts of her son, Trent Easton Junior. A search has been called for...

"It doesn't say where she is... but at least she is still alive" Junior said

"But people are obviously looking for you... how are you going to explain you've suddenly gained 10 years, records would show your true age which is why they know of your existence... Skedar technology isn't going to cut it with them" Joanna said

"... you are saying I almost have to go backwards now, back to being weak and pathetic" Junior replied

"No... but it would be a thought... if your mother is truly alive..." Joanna started

"Hold it there Joanna... read this..." Mel said

Mel scrolled further down the page... and the story continued... the time was only 2 hours after the first story.

Jessica Easton has died, never regaining consciousness. Her friends are devastated and hope that the US Government will soon bring Trent Easton to justice after he attempted to kidnap and replace the President of the United States with a clone.

"Trent's spy according to him would have seen her die, he said he recalled him the day after, he knew she was dead..." Mel said

"So I've been made a fool of... he wanted to play games with me to avoid a beating... how could I be so stupid" Junior said "I shouldn't have been so selfish and just let you go first Mel..." Junior sighed

"You offered... I turned it down, it's my own fault... besides I will insist that he gets locked up for life as opposed to the easy way out... a gun shot to his head, big deal its over and done with... the other way... he suffers for much longer..." Mel said

Joanna just watched them, they did seem to get on well...

"What do you plan for the future Melvin?" Joanna asked

"Me? I dunno, might go back home... I have no idea..." Melvin replied

"Come with me... and Sean and stuff... I've always wanted a big brother" Junior said, it sounded rather child like

Mel laughed "You are taller and bigger then I am, it sounds stupid for me to call you my little brother..." Mel broke off...

"Just think about it... please?" Junior asked

"Okay... I mean I've really got nothing at the moment, so it would go against my brother's and I guess partly my saying of... there is nothing to be afraid of, if you've got nothing to lose" Mel said "But only if it doesn't inconvenience the others" Mel finished

"I'm sure it won't... you are great on the computer..." Joanna said

Mel blushed for a second... He made a mistake about judging Joanna before... she wasn't that nasty bitch of the Institute like everybody else made her out to be.

And so that is it... for this chapter... I was going to leave a cliffy about Junior's Mum but I figured I wouldn't (so Cristalina wouldn't try shoot me) and I then I had another option with leaving it with Mel... but those aren't really story hanging cliffys. If you are wondering, yes I am putting all my OC's in one place, so I don't focus on them because that's been a naughty habit of mine... there is a reason I have developed so many which will become obvious later...


	14. The woman in Jonathan's mind

This is something I wrote when the other computer with the actual chapter update on it stopped working... I may rewrite it if it doesn't get back up fast enough. This part of the story was supposed to follow the one that was doing. This chapter and the next are in first person so don't be caught off guard by it. It gives a detailed view into a certain character and some things that I planned on putting in a certain other fic but I did not.

There will be a lot of flashbacks in this example because it focuses on the only pairing I've done in my perfect dark writing career to date, also for the storyline purpose the flashbacks are not in order of how they actually happened. Also the flashbacks on the most part revive some of the funnier, and frankly better parts of my first fic. I may do more of these (without as many flashbacks if any in some cases) if you guys like it... pick a character for me to do, maybe even dedicating a story to it.

Enjoy...

I walked out of the Institute main doors and towards the elevator, as I waited for the elevator to head down to the car park. Joanna definitely seemed to know something was going on...was I really making it that obvious...

The doors opened and I stepped out and headed to my car... that's something else that's changed since then, I didn't have a car before... well I didn't need one... the Institute was in walking distance before.

Flashback...

"Mind if I drop you home?" Natasha asked  
"Err no thanks" I said. I didn't want to intrude on her... although I looked outside and it was typically pouring with rain, almost as if it had been set up that way.  
"Are you sure?" Natasha smiled. God, that girl was so attractive, her perfect teeth to match those beautiful eyes...  
"Well alright" I said. I hoped I made it sound as if I was convinced rather then I wanted to be with her... 

End flashback...

I took out my keys and turned off the alarm, even though only the institute members worked here I still used it, Grimshaw years ago had a bit of a habit of trying to hack into the electrical locks common on the cars here and go for a joy ride. However now days he doesn't get away with it as the remote will now alert the owner so they can stop him before he drives off. Sure he returned the car, but he'd be sure to let you know what he did by the things he left in there.

Flashback count: 2.

Natasha was very annoyed for some reason; I was doing my final examination today. I knew that I would pretty much have to score worse then zero not to pass the Institute test, but I so wanted to break the previous record, and do so I'd need to get near perfect in this test. So I was hoping Natasha would have some reassuring words, I assumed that some agent didn't return a device, generally the usual reason that Natasha was ticked off. I steered well clear of her, however as I went into the cafeteria and sat down just for a minute to compose myself. However Natasha sat down on the other side of the table.

"Oh hi Jonathan, I guess this is your final examination today..." Natasha still sounded annoyed

"Yeah..." I replied... I had heard stories from some of the other guys at the Institute that you don't want to get on the wrong side of Natasha...

"Ill honestly kill him, when Carrington permits it" Natasha said.

"Who?" I asked... I wondered who'd be the agent who'd receive a certain stern talking to by Carrington.

"Grimshaw of course..." Natasha replied as if was the most obvious thing ever.

"Grimshaw?" I asked surprised.

"Well who else would put cameras and have my data screen on my car read, guess who! I got you..." Natasha said "I thought the message was the only thing, but after scanning the car over there were some micro cameras in it as well. On top of that, there was super glue on the drivers seat but fortunately I noticed it before sitting down" Natasha sounded upset rather then angry now

"Oh... I'm sorry" I replied... Natasha looked really upset by the whole thing, I didn't understand it, being bothered by Grimshaw isn't really that much of a big deal, he has so many weaknesses it would be a piece of cake for anybody to exploit them, he was pretty disliked across the Institute as well.

"I just don't know if anybody in the Institute likes me" Natasha was trying to hold back tears, it was obvious "none of the girls talk to me, sure some of the guys drool over me but that's not because of who I am. My parents didn't want me to work here... now I hoped maybe I had listened to them" Natasha said

"None of the girls talk to you because you are far smarter, and are a better person in general then them. Some of the guys like you but probably for the wrong reasons as you said... and don't worry about Grimshaw, he bothers everybody" I said.

"I guess he does" Natasha sighed

"Besides Carrington definitely likes you, and... I like you..." I felt really stupid then, I did like Natasha but not only because of her beauty for which almost every guy in the institute talked about at least once, she was by far the most attractive in the Institute.

Natasha was silent for a minute then a big smile grew on her face. "Thanks Jonathan those are the just the words I needed to hear... I guess it's only the people who don't really count that don't like me... anyway good luck, break the record and come see me later" Natasha said as she walked off

I sat back and smiled to myself, the smile on Natasha's face made me forget about the test until she mentioned it again... but I was far more relaxed.

Of course her looks naturally attracted attention, rumours about her varied from turning down a multi million dollar modelling contract to work at the Institute to that she had done a lot of operations with plastic surgery and other stuff to make her look this way, although despite what everybody else said I knew no rumour about her was true. However then I notice Foster smile at me from the distance... he walked up to me.

"That was a good thing you did Dark" Foster said

"Yeah well whatever..." I replied. I was certain it was him who started the strip dancing club rumour about Natasha because Carrington mentioned once that's where he was, Foster's creditability took a bit of hit for about a month. After that Carrington never said the true reason why somebody wasn't at work but he almost always knew.

After the test came and went with me doing it with a perfect score... and breaking the record, Carrington looked very happy... giving a 99% and an A. He said he'd throw a party, something very rarely done by Carrington. After that I saw Natasha in the device lab.

"I heard the news... congratulations" Natasha said

"Thanks" I smiled, I was very happy with my own result

"Now let's find a way of getting back at Grimshaw..." Natasha smiled in an almost evil fashion

"What do you have in mind?" I asked

Night, at the party...

"Did you do it Natasha?" I whispered to her. She sat next to me,

"Yup, I can't believe he made it so easy" Natasha giggled. It was a little unlike her, but still good to see.

Grimshaw was standing in the middle of the cafeteria dancing with another Institute girl who was too drunk to know who she was really holding. Either that or Grimshaw had a device that made her that way.

"Oaggh.. hang on a second..." Grimshaw said...

Suddenly some substance began to fall underneath Grimshaw... he began to look really embarrassed

"Hey look everybody, Grimshaw's peeing his pants" Foster laughed, he was talking with some of the other guys.

Everybody turned to Grimshaw and sure enough there he was in the middle of the Institute cafeteria peeing his pants. Needless to say, Grimshaw ran out of the cafeteria, very fast indeed. Natasha was laughing so much I had never seen laugh like that before. Even Carrington was having a bit of a laugh at Grimshaw's misfortune.

End Flashback....

That was a good day... and Grimshaw never tried to open cars again, although that could have been because when he tried to do Sean's car the very next day, Natasha put locks on the car that would inform her and Sean that his car was currently being hacked into, so Grimshaw got a nasty surprise when the two of them came and caught him red handed. Although I didn't know Sean back then... he was just another guy who came to the Institute to finish his training.

I drove out of the Institute and flew into the sky; there was one good point about the Institute being in the middle of nowhere as opposed to in the middle of a crowded city, there was no traffic in the air or on the ground. I remember that because of gossip going around Natasha was formal in the Institute when giving me a briefing but she still got her jokes in...

Flashback count: 3

I was a bit nervous still, second assignment and after seeing former friend, now deadly rival Terrance still alive and working for dataDyne I badly wanted my revenge. I headed into the device lab and this strange device comes up to me, before I know it does a flash leaving me stunned for a few seconds. Blinking I see Natasha with a remote control in hand.

"What was that?" I asked still recovering

"Camspy, useful thing isn't it I hope you like your picture" Natasha laughed. Ever since that Grimshaw incident she seemed a lot happier. I saw myself with this stupid expression of shock on my face...

"Geez thanks" I rolled my eyes

"You could do with it on your mission; it works like the bombspy that Foster developed with us. This one won't blow up, but instead it can transfer pictures back to us as well as any conversation" Natasha explained

"Excellent, I may begin to like this device after all" I replied

"I know I can trust you with this, since unlike some agents you are known to return stuff" Natasha said  
"You do have another one don't you? You never know what can happen in the field" I said, I had just got on Natasha's good side, and I didn't want to go back.

"Yes, just be careful with it" Natasha replied "I would like to see it return but I'm more than use to

things magically disappearing due to careless acts" Natasha said. Out of about 5 devices she handed to agents about 2 of them returned in useable condition on average. Most of the time because they didn't really understand how the device was supposed to work.

"I'll do my best, but first let me get the hang of how to use this thing" I said, then my mind wondered of how I could best use this right now...

"It's no different to the bombspy, you see through here as usual" Natasha pointed to a screen on the remote

I moved the camspy around towards the door then suddenly turned it around before elbowing Natasha to put her off balance then taking a picture of her.

"Okay, very funny, you understand how to use it?" Natasha said as she folded the device up into a really small shape.

End flashback...

That sentence described Natasha very well... she liked a laugh, but when it came down to it she was very serious about her job... that was a lot like me and a part about her I could definitely relate to. Of course when nobody could be watching she tended to relax her formal approach to work.

Flashback count: 4

We had driven on for quite a long while now, well away from the dataDyne building. I was slightly annoyed I didn't get Terrance but it didn't matter... as I kept telling myself that would come. Natasha looked back, brushing her long light brown hair backwards.

"Not that they ever gave chase but I think we lost them" Natasha said "Shall we celebrate?" Natasha stopped her Ferrari.  
  
"I guess" I replied, I liked Natasha but I was always conscious of relationships that could form, I didn't want to hurt her. Natasha pressed another button and two glasses appeared, and they filled with champagne.  
"To your success; and all of those to come" Natasha raised her glass  
"One can hope" I said as I raised my glass.

End flashback

Little did I know then, Grimshaw and Elvis saw the entire thing. However Natasha must have liked my company too because she had got Carrington's approval to be on the next mission with me in Italy, she kissed me for the first time on that plane... well was about to until I spotted an Institute camera and destroyed it. Fortunately I didn't ruin the moment and she kissed me anyway, and when she did I knew something special would become of this. I hadn't even had a girlfriend before. It was that same day I had thought I had got my revenge on Terrance too...that's right... thought... Carrington liked us working together because of the success we had, she was almost if not just as good as him when it came to briefing. Although the thing I liked about Natasha a lot was her humour... very similar to mine... it annoyed people...

Flashback count: 5

"That's what one would call using your head..." Natasha laughed as I had just sent Terrance to his supposed death with a headbutt sending him tumbling through 4 floors of glass.

"That's what I'd call a bad pun" I replied. It was such a bad joke, especially for her

"I can leave you here if you like" Natasha said "but you are right... I knew a bad joke would get your attention" Natasha laughed.

End flashback (again).

I pulled up to my house, still the same old small place I lived in 8 years ago... I just wished I hadn't taken so long to make a commitment... but we still had some fun times.

Flashback count: 6

I went down the mountain; it was deserted as it was a working day. Natasha was beside me... I liked her a lot, she seemed really uptight at first but then I found the way to make her laugh. Seeing her the way she was today on the snow was such a change to how I was used to seeing her using her newly invented devices on agents who failed to return the older ones. However I suddenly felt a push from behind and found myself face first in the snow... recovering I looked up and saw Natasha standing over me.

"What was that for?" I asked

"Because I felt like it" Natasha replied

"Well I guess I feel like this too" I was holding her leg and then suddenly caused her to trip and she landed in the snow next to me.

"Ouch..." Natasha said but it was obvious what I did didn't really hurt her.

There was great sunset as well... we both looked into other's eyes and then admired the view for a little longer, it was unfortunate we couldn't stay, as we both had to work tomorrow.

Flashback count: 7

We were watching the sunrise. At centerpoint tower while looking at the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the view was great... Natasha liked these tourist like things, I was sort of into it but it didn't matter whether I was or not... I was with Natasha... I decided to ask her to marry me tonight... keeping in mind of Foster's advice of that she would move on if I was too slow... I didn't want to lose her, but I didn't want to hurt her either... perhaps I had a bit of fear of rejection too... but I had to put all that aside.

"Isn't it great?" Natasha said  
"Yeah" I went to kiss her, I don't know how much time passed while I was holding her, until I saw somebody looking at us in which I tapped on her on the shoulder and she turned around. The guy who couldn't have been older then 20 just looked the other way, Natasha just giggled and I had this silly smile on my face... I didn't know what else to say or do, although I didn't care and it seemed she didn't either.

End flashback

Walking into my bedroom I got changed and went in the lounge room. I now know that guy was Sean... he said that's how he recognised me so easily later on... The only thing I didn't regret about that mission in Australia was that at least I did get to propose...

I was so nervous... I had bought the ring and everything, I even had to get Natasha to go elsewhere when I did it.

"Natasha, I've got something I'd like to ask you. I know we haven't been going out that long, but we've been good friends for months. Should something happen to me tomorrow I would fell awful if I didn't ask you this" The nerves were jumping like crazy, I couldn't think straight, I was worried she would say no, I was worried I would hurt her...I pulled out a box and with the ring and opened it.  
  
"Will you marry me?" I asked her... the question that was causing me to get so nervous, I don't ever remember being so nervous...fortunately she answered quickly.  
  
"What kind of question is that! Of course I will!" Natasha replied, I breathed a quiet sigh of relief, I thought she might of heard it. "Took your sweet time" Natasha joked as she accepted the ring and put in on her finger. I smiled finally... it was done... and she said yes, no pain for anybody..  
  
"Well... I thought you'd say no even now..." I said, it was a stupid thing to say... why'd I say that "It seemed too fast, but you never know what's going to happen" I tried to recover myself... I was concerned, as I had a funny feeling something was going to go wrong tomorrow.  
  
"Jonathan, don't talk that way, everything will be fine" Natasha said.

End flashback...

Well everything wasn't fine... she was worried too even then. It was the worst day of my life... still is...

Flashback count: 8.

I had seen multiple guards come, Natasha used the weapons to throw them off driving through the road blocks the security people had placed. Taking careful aim I shot a guy in a white coat with a one of those Skedar guns right in the head.

However then I noticed another car began to chase after us. Natasha drove away from where all the guards were.

"What are you doing?" I asked

"We can't fight them with this guy behind, I've got a few tricks" Natasha pressed a button and some spikes came out the back of the car however the other car just floated over them somehow.

"Ah crap" Natasha said "Now I mean business" Natasha went for another button and this time multiple grenades came out the back but they were shot out of the air by the other cars machine guns.

"damn he's good" Natasha said a little frustrated "Now for the last resort" Natasha pressed a red button in the center that released a slow tracking homing missile. However looking in the mirrors I had seen that the car from behind had fired one as well. It was closing in.

"Natasha it's going to hit! Let's get out!" I shouted ready to open the door

"Damn ejector seat isn't working" Natasha was trying to fiddle with the trigger

"He's probably jammed it, let's get out" I said to her as she slammed on the brakes and I jumped out the car and I notice that the person in the other car had done the same as I ran away from the car and then ran around the corner and heard the two explosions and saw the flaming wreck fly past. I then noticed somebody was missing...

"Natasha?" I called out

No reply.

"NATASHA!!" I shouted out. Still nothing.

I went out into the street and tried to see if I could her, still being catious of the other man but I was far more concerned about Natasha, and then I saw her... lying on the ground... eyes closed. I dropped to her on my knee and checked her pulse nothing.

"Natasha..." I said quietly... I was still trying to scan the area for the other man but I couldn't see him "No..." I said hoping she would awaken... then I suddenly felt my weapon be kicked from my hands.

"Ah you have a girlfriend that's cute. Or should I say had" The laugh that followed that sentence was too familiar... I saw his DY357... it was Terrance.... Alive... again...

End Flashback

I felt really sad... it wasn't good for me to think on that moment for too long, despite the face I showed at the institute everybody knew it had a big effect on me. Although the day was the worst in my life, I did avenge her the same day...

Flashback count: 9

"Come on don't take too long to die..." Terrance taunted with a large amount of overconfidence

The shield Sean had given me just absorbed Terrance's magnum shot. I fired at him but he rolled underneath the shot and I knew he would fire when he got up. So angry about what he had done to Natasha... and angry at myself for not checking he was dead I ran up to him and then kicked his weapon out of his hand... his old trick... what he was known for at the Institute... His Magnum flew out the window.

"Get on the ground NOW!" I ordered rage filling within me... I wanted to shoot him but I wanted him to wonder when I would press that trigger.

"You can kill me but our plan will succeed" Terrance said. I rolled my eyes, Terrance was full of shit and never good at lying.

"If trash talking was a sport you'd win a gold medal" I replied as I hit the other side of Terrance's metallic face. He looked like a freak, which I thought was appropriate for him anyway. I picked him up and placed him outside the window holding onto him with one arm.

"This time I will actually make sure you are dead" I said as I fired my magnum at point blank range at his head while letting go of him sending him to his death. I knew I'd have to check on him but that wasn't going to be a problem.

End Flashback

I decided I had enough of my thoughts and to move onto to the tradition I have done once a year every year since that day... I don't know why I do it, but it helps me remember what's worth fighting for in this world... I know no matter how many times I do this it will not bring her back, but it does allow me to get in touch with her in my own mind. However I had one last happier thought... I wasn't generally a person who enjoyed seeing somebody die like a lunatic, but this was different...

A/N: Yes... How could I not put the fan favourite death scene in this... Enjoy...

Flashback count: 10 (this is the last one, nice round figure)

"You alright?" Sean asked. He was bleeding from his forehead... he had a fair few scratch marks on him as well, seemed like an encounter with a few Skedar.  
"I hope so... I've just got one thing to do" I went looking for Terrance's body... I didn't want him to be revived again, nor did I want the people of Sydney suddenly coming across a dead body. It didn't take me long to find him.  
"Nice job" Sean said.

I pulled out a grenade and put into Terrance's mouth, before pulling out the pin. Sean and I walked a good distance away, the grenade exploded and I watched the flames, we both left after they died down. Sean went back to report and I went back for Natasha... I looked at her for a long time... I then knelt down to her and touched her on the cheek and kissed her...

"I'll miss you... so much" I said

End flashback

I made it seem to everybody else that I wasn't a ticking time bomb. I tried not to make it seem that one word about that girl would send me into a downward spiral and all of that crap. I didn't like being like that so I made it seem business as usual. Of course everybody still gave me sympathy and stuff because it was obvious I was going to marry her. ... I knew that even now I had never completely healed from Natasha's dying, there was a big gap in my life since she died. Although most of the people who work at the Institute now don't even know of Natasha. Carrington, Sean, Foster and Grimshaw are the only ones who knew her.

I stood up from where I was sitting and got a piece of paper and a pen, and started writing...


	15. The letter and meeting

I didn't know why I did this, I knew that nobody would ever read it but I guess it let me feel as if I could still reach her. After I put the letter inside an envelope I picking up my keys, locked the place up again, and traveled out to where I did once a year every year since the day she died. The place where Natasha was actually buried, it wasn't at the place the funeral was held; it was a different location in the middle of a forest.

About an hour later...

Typically on this day, it would rain... this year was no exception... much like the day she died, only two years it wasn't like this. It was like it was made that way, it was as if the tears wouldn't appear on my face so they appeared from the sky instead. Somebody once said that, not directed at me but it was something I never could get out of my head, it was annoying. I stopped the car, got out and protected the letter from the merciless rain, but what for...

There was a special tree that Natasha had... I knew where it was by now despite being lost the first two years, and typical of Natasha there was a keycard I had to put in, put on a tree that wasn't actually a tree. I swiped the card through and a platform under me rose and then stopped. I looked at the pillars on the left, right and over the top in an arc like fashion, they were old and worn down by the elements.

I moved through and saw the tombstone of Natasha, high above the ground but she of course was still buried in the ground, but it was elevated. I still don't understand why she wanted it this way, but it's what she said on the will, despite arguments from her parents Carrington and I did the best we could for her. Of course it was hard to get anything out of her parents since to this day they still think it was my fault for that she died... sometimes I think it is. If I hadn't allowed her to go with me, if I had been more thinking about her rather then my self and wanting her with me a lot of the time she might still be around today. Another device around here was a combination lock on a certain part of the ground, finding the lock on the left hand side of the wall which was covered in vines and then pressing the right combination. The piece of grass moved and inside was a small box with a rose design on it. I opened the box and inside were 7 envelopes each from the previous years. I added the newest one and closed the box again, then reflected... just for a few minutes more. In my letter I liked to talk to write to Natasha as if she was still living, about things going on in life, as if someday she would reply. I wasn't good at writing letters especially at parts that involved using a lot of fancy words and I guess emotion. The first few years I was writing about how she meant a lot to me and how life would never be the same without her, but now I just decided to reflect on what had happened recently, like anybody would in a letter.

To dearest Natasha,

It is another year again... This year has been quite eventful with the Skedar finally making their big move down here... I didn't have much of a hand in stopping them this time with the new agent Joanna (who broke my record mind you), doing most of the work with me now days regulated to doing undercover stuff due to the Maian surgery on my legs as I've written about before. While Joanna is very skilled I don't think you'd like her because she wouldn't return a lot of your high tech stuff, as she can be a bit careless. That development in the device lab still hasn't progressed anywhere near as far it would have if you were still here. I guess Carrington had a lot of faith in you and spent more money. I helped Joanna save Elvis after he was nearly going to get dissected by some scientists in Area 51, she did the rescuing while I did the undercover stuff. Underneath the arrogance of her and once you learn how she works she's actually really great to work with and Carrington likes to put us together.

The main thing that happened this year is the Skedar seems to be mostly extinct after Joanna and the Maians destroyed most of them. According to Skedar diplomates who are now on the Maian planet there are only a small group of them however they (the diplomates) were chased down until the Maians got them out. About a month after that Sean finally returned, he hasn't aged at all due to some thing on the Maian planet, Carrington thinks it's the food. Anyway he trained Maian protectors on his time on the planet; it was good to see him again.

Datadyne were "officially" destroyed in an attack by the Skedar known as Mr. Blonde who sent their entire building crashing into the ground... Only we know what really happened thanks to Cassandra who Joanna says gave her life to allow Joanna to escape from her cell, maybe Cassandra isn't as evil minded as we thought, although I think she was driven much more by revenge then to protect the world from future harm. The US government covered it up as a catastrophic accident in the lower dataDyne laboratories, which triggered an explosion, and all these other lies that were obvious to anybody with half a brain. However now dataDyne are on the run and split up into a much smaller group which was headed by Trent Easton.

However another interesting thing was that dataDyne not only split into smaller groups there was division in the company, the son of former head Luke Elcallaran took over the other side which we refer to the good side. We headed there and Joanna and Sean went in after Trent's base while Velvet who is Joanna's sister and I chased off some overpowered gangs on the street which we defeated easily, but they had some connection with the darker dataDyne and other stuff. Joanna took on Trent first but something happened and she was knocked out the window leaving Sean to deal with Trent... he did so but Trent escaped. Joanna survived but was hurt and would be out of action for some time. Then Sean met this kid who we later discovered to be Trent's unwanted child, I don't know much about him but he found out he was Trent's kid only recently after something happened to his mother.

I later went into Trent's base and was attacked by a woman, but on defeating her she committed suicide by later what I learned was poison, suddenly the base was going to self-destruct. Of course I escaped, then I went on a mission with Velvet to trace down other connections dataDyne and Easton had. This connection was proven by the poison in one of the shoes that an insider of the gang told us, he barely looked 16... and they forced him to do what they wanted, but he betrayed them killing his leader when Velvet was cornered and later told us that dataDyne had been importing this special concealed poison to put in their shoes so if they were captured they could commit suicide before they would talk.

After tracing this poison we were lead to Hong Kong where Velvet had been captured and taken to. We met up with Mel and Kel, twins who used to work for dataDyne 'unofficially' . On their house exploding after Mel had some kind of device and then dataDyne decided they wanted it back... So in a revenge attack we attacked dataDyne but Kel was killed in the attack however we rescued Velvet and captured Trent.

Junior however had Skedar technology implemented and it caused him to gain 10 years. Trent had planned on using him as a weapon against us but it didn't work. Mel however talked to me a bit last night... he told me stuff he and his brother had gone through after their grandfather went to Japan and seemed to never return. After their house had blown up and Mel was still in possession of this device that dataDyne wanted back we decided to drag along another party member you could call it. However nothing is the same on this day, Joanna noticed it the most, she had this look of worry in her eyes when I finally knocked her out of parent like mode where she yelled at Melvin and Junior for attacking Trent. I personally couldn't care less about the bastard and I knew they would both be harmless, well as far as not killing him was concerned. Now all that remains in defeating that evil organisation that took your life is destroying the small parts that it has divided into, one by one.

I know a lot has happened recently so I will now tell you about how I truly miss you, I don't think I will ever find a replacement for the gap you left... I already have run out of things that I haven't said in previous years... I'm sorry that I'm not good with words... I just don't know what to say any more...

But I guess I can say this... I will always miss you.... whatever happens in my life.

Love

Jonathan Dark

I opened my eyes and walked out.

"Jonathan!" A voice called out for me. I turned around. A beautiful woman in a long white dress standing there. However she didn't look real.

"Natasha..." I said... it had to be...

"Yes... Jonathan...it's me..." Natasha gave a smile

I went to hold her but of course she was transparent.

"I'm sorry to have come to you like this" Natasha said

"I don't understand..."I replied

"You've come here for 8 years... you still love me after all these years?" Natasha asked

"Of course" I said without a doubt in my mind

Natasha smiled "You see Jonathan, you need to move on..." Natasha started

"But I have... sort of" I replied, Natasha frowned.

"If so then what are you doing here... from everybody else's view yes I would agree... and traditions are good thing indeed, and you are the only visitor so I welcome the company..." Natasha said

"but...?" I asked

"It is clear you still want something that is not possible... I don't mean to be so harsh, but every time this time of year comes you withdraw into your shell. I just want you to be happy, as I can do little else... "Natasha said

"So you saying I shouldn't come here... every year?" I asked

"No, no... Just that you shouldn't come here hoping I'll be able to talk to you, that I will live again... sure I am talking to you now... but you are the only person who can see me, nobody else can... and something tells me you have a crush... on a certain Perfect Dark" Natasha smiled

"Not true... I couldn't ever love anybody else" I replied

"That's your problem... you need to let go... in front of everybody else you are a real hero but I don't fall for such crap and you know it" Natasha said

I sighed... I wasn't really holding to Natasha, but... every time this year, thoughts of her would come back like nothing else... and it hurt... there... I admitted it to myself.

"Good Jonathan" Natasha smiled

I looked up at her surprised

"Yes, I can read your thoughts, I know you don't think about me every day nor do you have trouble sleeping or anything like that. However I can tell you are afraid of falling in love again. You said in this year's edition of the Jonathan News that I wouldn't like Joanna because she is careless. You are probably right, and I would have strangled her for leaving that camspy in Chicago, but that's not the point do you like her, at all? And if not... you can't honestly tell me that no girl has attracted your attention" Natasha said

I sighed again, one thing that annoyed me about Natasha was that she was almost always right... ah crap, she would have heard me thinking that.

"Yes I heard that... and I'm glad you think I'm right..." Natasha said

"Although Joanna... she doesn't give a shit about me... I like her, she's good in her own way but she's so focused on her work and her mission" I said

"You know she's looking for you right now... she saw through your heroic act too" Natasha laughed "She cares for you, although I don't think she knows quite why either" Natasha said

"Because without me, she wouldn't have any stupid joker in her life" I said sarcasm dripping in my voice

"Could be..." Natasha either ignored or didn't notice the sarcasm, and knowing her it'd be likely...

"I ignored it Jonathan... but in reality it's true, the one thing that had Joanna concerned was that she noticed something missing in you... and that was it... the only way she knew something was wrong" Natasha said interrupting my thoughts, I began to really hate how she could... d'oh.

Natasha this time said nothing just rolling her eyes...

"Well you wouldn't like it if every thought you were having was projected for me to hear would you?" I asked

"I guess not... but when you leave here, return next year if you want, but don't be holding onto me okay? Promise me that" Natasha said

"I promise..." I replied... having seen Natasha again, and speaking to her removed a great deal from my mind... but now that she was here what else could I say to her

"You don't have to say anything... I have done my job... and now it is time for you to do yours" Natasha said "If you and Joanna aren't meant to be then so be it, and you don't have to get with a woman because I said so, just don't come here every year hoping that I will somehow rise. I know what you think, so no need to write it down but I appreciate your thoughts so don't get me wrong, but I believe you are making yourself miserable" Natasha looked at me

"I understand, thanks again" I replied

"I must leave now, but before I do there is something I must give you, something that was in my will that my parents never showed you" Natasha said

"What is it?" I asked

"In the tombstone, behind it there is a switch only your fingerprint will work on it" Natasha told me

I did as I was asked and there was a small square on the back of the stone wall behind me, I put my finger on the middle and the wall in the back opened up a small hole.

"Even in death you are full of surprises" I smiled at her

"Check inside" She replied

Inside the small hole was a key.

"This is the key to my house... the one you visited all those years ago, I gave this to you in my will but my parents wouldn't let you have it because they believe you killed me, or it was your fault... I wrote this about 2 days before I died... I didn't think it would happen, but I didn't want to leave you with nothing if it did" Natasha smiled she seemed she wanted to tell me this for a long time

"Thank you..." Those were the only words I could manage

She then faded into nothingness.

I walked out and came back down. It was sad to see her leave but it was great to talk to her again... she gave me a different view on the life I was currently leading. It was a very weird feeling and I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders... I opened the car and headed home, I would work out stuff with my new home later.

So I finally did the Jonathan over Natasha thing... Jonathan may not have cried for days after it happened but much is reflected in his character it is obvious there are a few skeletons hiding somewhere, whether it be that he fell in love with a traitor or he fell in love and then the woman he was in love with died. Just when Cristalina thought I wouldn't do Joanna/Jonathan I surprise everybody... bwhahhaahaha...


End file.
